Super Bowl 60 Viewership Dips Slightly, Yet Sets New Peak Record
Sunday night's Super Bowl 60, featuring Seattle's 29-13 victory over New England, did not break the all-time viewership record for a U.S. broadcast. The game averaged 124.9 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL platforms, as measured by Nielsen's Big Data Panel rating system. This figure fell short of the 127.7 million U.S. viewers who tuned in for Philadelphia's 40-22 win over Kansas City last year on Fox.
NBC Celebrates Historic Milestone Amidst Strong Performance
Despite missing the overall record, Super Bowl 60 became the most-watched program in NBC's history, a significant achievement as the network marks its 100th anniversary this year. The audience for the game peaked at an impressive 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter (7:45-8 p.m. Eastern), setting a new record that surpassed the previous mark of 137.7 million from last year's Super Bowl.
Bad Bunny's Halftime Show Ranks Fourth in Viewership
Bad Bunny's halftime performance averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15-8:30 p.m. Eastern, placing it as the fourth-most watched halftime show in history. It trails behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million in 2025), Michael Jackson (133.4 million in 1993), and Usher (129.3 million in 2024). However, the show set a social media record, with total consumption reaching 4 billion views in the first 24 hours, a 137% increase over last year, according to the NFL and Ripple Analytics.
Spanish-Language Broadcast Achieves Record Numbers
Telemundo's coverage averaged 3.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl Spanish-language broadcast in the United States since the tradition began in 2014. The audience peaked during the halftime show, averaging 4.8 million viewers, also a record for Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime history.
Olympics Show Benefits from Super Bowl Lead-In
NBC's "Primetime in Milan" Olympic show, which followed the Super Bowl and featured women's downhill and team figure skating events, averaged 42 million viewers. This marked the network's largest Winter Olympics audience since Day 2 of the 2014 Sochi Games and represented a 73% increase from the post-Super Bowl Olympics show in 2022.
Game Dynamics and Broader NFL Trends
This year's Super Bowl ended a streak of four consecutive years with audience increases, though it is the fifth straight year the game has averaged over 100 million viewers. The matchup lacked the excitement of recent close games, with Seattle leading 12-0 entering the final quarter, making it only the second Super Bowl without a touchdown in the first three quarters.
In broader NFL trends, the playoffs averaged 37 million viewers over the first three weekends, up 5% from last year and the second-most watched in the last decade. The regular season also saw strong numbers, averaging 18.7 million viewers, the second-highest since records began in 1988, with a 10% increase from the previous season.
Alternative Halftime Show and Social Media Impact
The Turning Point USA halftime show featuring Kid Rock peaked at 5 million viewers on YouTube, though Nielsen did not measure YouTube live stream viewership. According to YouTube figures, the alternate show had 21,208,583 views by Tuesday night, while Bad Bunny's show accumulated 61,311,972 views. Social media data indicated that over 55% of views came from international markets, with full global viewership for the halftime show expected to be released early next week.
NBC Sports President Rick Cordella praised the event, stating, "The Super Bowl and the NFL once again delivered a blockbuster audience across our platforms, providing an unprecedented lead-in to our Olympic coverage. These events showcase the power of sports broadcasting."
