Super Bowl LV (55) turned out to be a dud of a game as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense throttled the Kansas City Chiefs high-powered offense in a 31-9 victory. As it so happens, the game was a flop for television ratings too. Only 91.6 million Americans watched the game this year. This was a 9% decrease from viewership of the game last year. It was also the least-watched Super Bowl game in 14 years.
With those numbers in mind, here’s a short list of the three most-watched Super Bowl games in history. But first, let’s see how influential the NFL, and this game specifically, is to football fans.
Massive Influence
The NFL is the nation’s most-watched professional sport by far. Not only does the NFL influence a generation of fans who look up to the players and consider some of them as role models, but its reach goes well beyond that. One of the most surprising industries that is influenced by the NFL, and the Super Bowl specifically, is the online casino industry.
How? Research has shown that football fans enjoy placing bets online. Casino game providers have created multiple games with football as the main theme. So, when gamblers access these sites to play online casino games, they find numerous slots and virtual sports games with this theme. All they have to do to enjoy them is register, a simple process that takes just a minute.
Now that we’ve seen how widespread the influence is, let’s check out which Super Bowls are the most viewed in history.
Super Bowl 50
Coming in at number three, we have Super Bowl 50. This game took place on February 7, 2016. The Carolina Panthers faced the Denver Broncos to determine the 2015 season champion. This was the 50th iteration of the game, and as such the NFL marked the anniversary with some changes such as gold-themed initiatives during the regular season as well as the decision to change from listing the game with Roman numerals as was historically the case. The Denver Broncos won the game 24-10 and this Super Bowl attracted 111,864,000 television viewers.
Super Bowl XLVIII (48)
Super Bowl XLVIII is the second most-watched Super Bowl game. This game was held on February 2, 2014, between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were destroyed 43-8. This game marked the only time when two former division rivals met in the Super Bowl as the Seahawks once played in the AFC West home of the Broncos before transferring to the NFC West for the 2002 season. Thousands of fans were in attendance at the new Met Life Stadium and a total of 112,191,000 viewers on the TV screen grabbed their favorite Super Bowl meal to watch the contest take place.
Super Bowl XLIX (49)
The most-watched game in Super Bowl history also turned out to be one of the best-played, most competitive games in the series. Super Bowl XLIX was played on February 1, 2015, and this game went down in history as the most-watched Super Bowl of all time. A total of 114,442,000 were glued to their screens when the New England Patriots became champions of the 2014 season after they defeated the Seattle Seahawks. This was one of the most exciting games in Super Bowl history as it came down to the final play of the game. New England held on for a 28-24 victory.