Super Bowl 59 Broke Another Impressive Viewership Record
19/02/2025 00:52
FOX already celebrated a ratings record for Super Bowl 59. The NFL's championship showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs set another viewership benchmark.
On Feb. 9, the Eagles steamrolled the Chiefs in a 40-22 blowout that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. Despite the one-sided affair, a record 127.7 million average viewers watched the Super Bowl, a new record over the 123.7 million who saw Kansas City fare much better in last year's overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Nielsen ratings, courtesy of Front Office Sports, identified another milestone. A record 182.8 million unique viewers watched at least one minute of Super Bowl 59, narrowly topping last year's 182.2 million threshold.
That number includes Spanish-language broadcasts on Fox Deportes and Telemundo and 14.5 million average viewers who watched digitally on Tubi, NFL+, or the Fox Sports app.
Several viewers may have checked out when the Eagles bolstered their lead to 24-0 by halftime. Shortly after Cooper DeJean returned a Patrick Mahomes interception for a touchdown on the rookie's 22nd birthday, another pick set up Philadelphia for a quick score to put the game out of reach.
Yet plenty of people didn't turn off the FOX broadcast. Kendrick Lamar's halftime show also set a Super Bowl record with an average of 133.5 million viewers.
With Tom Brady calling the game, some fans may have held out hope of Mahomes orchestrating his own epic Super Bowl comeback.
Instead, the Eagles added 10 more points before Kansas City finally got on the board with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Chiefs started moving the ball in garbage time, but it was far too late to secure a three-peat.
The record viewing audience watched a smothering Eagles defense sack Mahomes six times and force a fumble. Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns while adding a game-leading 72 rushing yards.
NBC will try to seize FOX's ratings records when the network broadcasts Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8, 2026.
Related: FOX Announces Super Bowl 59 Made All-Time Ratings History
