Super Bowl Audience Plunges to Lowest Mark in Over a Decade
- 96 million viewers for CBS broadcast is 15% decline from 2020
- Pandemic effects damped parties, suppressed sports-bar crowds
Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 7.
Photographer: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast on CBS attracted an audience of 96.4 million TV and digital viewers, falling to the lowest mark in over a decade.
The championship, featuring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ lopsided 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, marked a setback for the National Football League, which played many of its games in empty stadiums this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year’s broadcast on Fox drew an audience of 102 million, or 113 million with out-of-home viewing included. CBS’s audience of 96.4 million included people watching outside their homes.