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Every year, American football fans gather around to watch the NFL Super Bowl finale, one of the most highly anticipated sporting events of all time. Since 1970 and the merging of the NFL and AFL, the 1st place teams from both the AFC and NFC would compete in a final game known as the Super Bowl to take home all the glory. Each year, the NFL’s showdown draws in millions of viewers, and the event has certainly grown more and more popular with the rise of streaming services.
In this article, we’ll dissect the top five most viewed Super Bowl matches by TV viewership and explain why so many people might’ve tuned in to each of these big games! To stay consistent, we’ll be using the official Neilson Rating based on the overall viewership from the main telecast.
To start our list of NFL Super Bowl ratings is the 2015 season final between AFC champs Denver Broncos and the NFC champs Carolina Panthers at Bay Area Stadium. Fans from all over the U.S. would tune in to watch a confident 15-1 Panthers team attempt to win their first Super Bowl trophy in history. With a Nielsen Rating of 46.6, the game amassed over 111.8+ million live TV viewers.
Carolina fans would be heartbroken to watch the 12-4 regular season Broncos steal the game with a final score of 24-10, winning their third Super Bowl trophy in history. Many other games came close to 111+ million viewers on the live telecast, including the 2016 Super Bowl between the Patriots and Falcons, the 2011 Super Bowl between the Giants and Patriots, and the 2011 Super Bowl between the Packers and Steelers.
Super Bowl 48 is the oldest championship included on this list, which showcases how popular the sport has become. For this event, over 112.19+ million viewers turned on the television to watch a dominant Seattle Seahawks face off against MVP quarterback Peyton Manning and the AFC-winning Denver Broncos.
Both teams had 13-3 regular season records, but Seattle was the clear underdogs, having won three NFC titles but never a Super Bowl trophy. The game ended in a complete blowout with the Seattle Seahawks winning 43-8, arguably pulling off the biggest upset in modern NFL Super Bowl history.
Another highly rated Super Bowl match between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles would be broadcast to over 114.2+ million live watchers, giving it an official Neilson Rating of 40.4. Both teams came into the NFL championship with 14-3 regular season records, so fans were highly anticipating this one.
Having won two Super Bowls before this, the Chiefs, led by QB Patrick Mahomes, would be the dominant force against the Eagles, scraping out a win 38-35. Mahomes would win the MVP and consequently go on to win a consecutive Super Bowl in 2024.
In this Championship, the AFC-winning New England Patriots and MVP QB Tom Brady would confront the NFC title-holding Seattle Seahawks at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Both teams headed into the playoffs with 12-4 records, and the game would go on to be one of the most competitive Super Bowl matches in recent history.
With over 114.4+ million viewers and an official Neilson Rating of 47.5, Seattle fans would watch their defending champions gain a 10-point lead over the Patriots in the third quarter only to give up 14 points in the fourth. New England’s Malcolm Butler would make one of the greatest interceptions of all time to win the game after picking off a touchdown-bound toss from Russell Wilson on the 1-yard line.
The most viewed Super Bowl of all time, Super Bowl 58, was the most recent Super Bowl that took place between defending champions of Kansas City Chiefs vs. a threatening 49ers team. Amassing over 120.25+ telecast viewers and a Neilson Rating of 42.1, fans would tune in to watch Chiefs’ starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes head to the second overtime game to ever occur in the Super Bowl.
Mahomes would clinch back-to-back Super Bowl trophies and receive the MVP award for the second time in a row, making this game the most live-watched Super Bowl in NFL history.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.