UPDATED: Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals drew just over 101 million total viewers.
Per Nielsen data, the game averaged 99.18 million viewers on NBC and an additional 1.9 million viewers on Telemundo. That means this year’s Super Bowl telecast was up 8% from 2021’s showdown between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, which drew about 91.6 million.
More from Variety
NBC’s multiplatform broadcast of the Rams defeating the Bengals in a tight cinch for the Vince Lombardi Trophy— 23 to 20 —rose above the 100 million linear viewer threshold and set a record for streaming.
NBC not only ran the 2022 NFL championship game, but also all national ads, the halftime show featuring hip-hop and rap legends Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Bilge, Kendrick Lamar and surprise musical guest 50 Cent, and pre- and post-game coverage.
For more comparison, 2019’s matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams on CBS averaged approximately 98.2 million viewers on the network alone— the Super Bowl’s lowest viewership total since 2008— and 100.7 million across all CBS platforms. The 2018 Super Bowl between the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC drew 103.4 million.
Super Bowl LVI’s telecast numbers were in-line with Variety’s Intelligence Platform, which predicted a TV audience of between 97 million and 100 million watching this Sunday on NBC, greater than last year and on par with 2019’s battle for football’s highest honor.
More to come…
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
