The Super Bowl is the ultimate event in American live broadcasting. When it comes to ratings, it is unlike any other opportunity for the entire country to come together and enjoy a cultural phenomenon. Even people who do not enjoy football will sit down with friends to eat, to watch commercials, to enjoy the halftime show, and more. It is one of the cultural bonds of Americanism, perhaps one of the last events enjoyed by people of all political affiliations, ethnic backgrounds, and religious beliefs.
After two years of decline in viewership and population participation, it appears the 2022 Super Bowl brought back many of the people who had decided to tune out the unique event. According to Nielsen, the 2022 Super Bowl had 99.18 million viewers via TV broadcast and 11.2 million viewers on streaming services. Together, that makes 110.38 million people joining together for the football finale.
The biggest Super Bowl ever seems to have been in 2015 when approximately 116 million viewers decided to watch the festivities. Since then, the Super Bowl ratings have been on a downward trajectory, with last year’s game dropping below 100 million participants for the first time since 2009.
The upgrade in viewership for the NFL’s big game is in stark contrast to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where viewership per evening was down around 12 million, but is likely even lower as the Olympics move towards their end. This represents a 50% decrease in viewership, more than the 40% drop that NBC had expected and warned advertisers.
There are many theories for why the Olympics ratings are down. There’s the general decline in TV viewing; a 13-hour time difference between Beijing and the East Coast; a controversy over the host country’s human rights record; fewer fans attending due to Covid-19 restrictions; and potential viewer fatigue with a second Olympics just six months after the summer games.
For the NFL and American sports, now is a time for them to investigate what has brought viewers back to the Super Bowl, and what is driving them away from the Olympics.
The answers are worth billions.
For more on entertainment, streaming, TV, and all the cultural stuff driving viewership, keep tuning into That Park Place. We cover this sort of thing from an angle you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. And, as always, drop a comment and let us know your thoughts. We really do read them.
