As of yesterday, Super Bowl LIV is in the books, with The Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31-21, and with the win came the first ratings increase for the big game in five years. Following regular season viewership decline over the last few seasons, the NFL championship game, know as the Super Bowl since the 1966 season, has been no exception to the trend. It’s seen its’ viewing numbers dip for four consecutive seasons.
The game was one of the more exciting championship matches in recent years. The score stayed competitive throughout with both teams having a chance to bring home the Lombardi Trophy. San Francisco started out in control, taking a tied game to the halftime show and building their lead up to 20-10 through the third quarter. Not content to watch the game slip away, Kansas City’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes lead his team on a fourth-quarter comeback, rallying from 10-points behind to an eventual 11-point lead that would secure the win for the Chiefs.
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As far as the numbers go, THR has FOX’s Super Bowl LIV broadcast clocking in at just under one hundred million viewers with an average of 99.9 million. While it does signal an increase in viewership, it was a minimal increase, as last year’s Super Bowl on CBS received 98.2 million average viewers. The household rating also saw an increase as it jumped from 2019’s 41.1 to 41.7 this year.
The Kansas City Chiefs had only reached the Super Bowl twice prior to this season, and they had not been back since 1970 when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Heading into Super Bowl LIV’s matchup, the San Francisco 49ers had played in six Super Bowls, taking home the trophy five times. While San Francisco had made it to the big game as recently as 2012, both franchises had been playing well and were facing high expectations going into the match. In the end, the Kansas City Chiefs held their composure and executed better down the stretch as they got to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in 50 years.
The NFL is surely happy to see the Super Bowl ratings bounce back some after a few down years, but there’s no guarantee this will be a continuing trend. While viewership was up during this year’s regular season and for the Super Bowl, the NFL has had some controversy in the past few seasons that may have factored into the previous decline. Between player protests, national anthem kneeling, and the NFL’s handling of punishments for off-field incidents, there’s been no shortage of controversial issues for the league to navigate. It’s possible for some fans, those issues were enough to stop watching. For many more though, the excitement for the game and passion for their team is enough to keep drawing them back. In any case, we’ll see if the NFL can capitalize on this positive momentum when the league returns to play next September.
