Super Bowl LIV draws 3.4 million live streaming viewers; 30% increase from 2019

Fox Super Bowl LIV Miami Logos

Source: FoxSports (Image credit: FoxSports)
What you need to know

• Super Bowl LIV had the largest live stream in game's history.

• Over 3.4 million watched online from Fox Sports, NFL, & Yahoo Sports apps or sites.

• Live stream viewership up 30% while broadcast ratings up +1%.

Now that Super Bowl LIV is in the history books, Fox Sports has as much reason to celebrate as the World Champion Kansas City Chiefs. A Fox press release confirms that the 2020 Super Bowl drew over 3.4 million online viewers, making the digital event a big success.

That 3.4 million average online viewership for the Super Bowl is the largest digital audience in the history of the big game. The Super Bowl began streaming in 2012, and online viewership has grown steadily over nine years.

The growth from last year is impressive, as Fox had a 30% increase over 2019 on CBS. The longer view of growth is even more impressive. The first average online viewership available is from 2014, which had 528,000 people. That figure grew over 640% to reach 3.4 million now.

The growth of cord cutting has contributed to this rise, as has the expansion of the platforms that stream the game. Initial Super Bowl streaming was limited to specific mobile phones and carriers along with web browsers. Super Bowl LIV was available almost everywhere. It streamed on the Fox Sports app and website, along with the NFL app, Verizon's Yahoo Sports app, and on the participating teams' digital properties.

Next year's Super Bowl will be broadcast and streamed by CBS.

Super Bowl LIV on FOX Draws Viewership of More Than 102 Million Across Television & Digital Platforms

Super Bowl LIV Watched All or In-Part by 148.5 Million Viewers on FOX. Average Audience on Linear Broadcast Up Year-Over-Year. Viewership on FOX Broadcast Network Peaks at 103.5 Million. Most Live-Streamed Super Bowl Ever with Average Minute Audience Across FOX, NFL & Verizon Digital Platforms Hitting 3.4 Million

Miami – South Beach brought the heat as an average audience of 102.1 million tuned in for FOX Sports' ninth Super Bowl presentation as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers (31-20) in Super Bowl LIV at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium. The FOX broadcast network, including connected TV platforms, drew an average audience of 99.9 million viewership peaking at 103.5 million in the exciting conclusion to the NFL's 100th season.

Key highlights are below:

SUPER BOWL LIV ON FOX

  • Super Bowl LIV drew an average audience of 102.1 million across television (FOX and FOX Deportes) and digital (FOX, NFL, Verizon, Chiefs and 49ers properties)
  • 148.5 million viewers watched all or part of Super Bowl LIV
  • Super Bowl LIV drew an average audience of 99.9 million on the FOX broadcast network, up +1% over last year and the first year-over-year increase for the Super Bowl since 2015
  • FOX's average audience represents the 10th most-watched Super Bowl ever, the 11th most-watched U.S. telecast ever and the fourth most-watched program in FOX history
  • Sunday's game peaked at 103.5 million viewers on the FOX broadcast network during the 9:45-10:00 PM ET window as the Chiefs completed their historic comeback
  • Super Bowl LIV powered FOX to an easy win across all networks in prime time, and the 41.6/69 household rating/share is the highest-rated telecast of the broadcast season
  • Kansas City posted a 55.7/89 rating/share, the market's best Super Bowl rating since 2014
  • San Francisco posted a 48.6/83 rating/share, the market's best for a Super Bowl since 2016

PREGAME

  • The FOX SUPER BOWL SUNDAY pregame show averaged 21.6 million viewers for its four and a half hours of programming on the FOX broadcast network from 2:00-6:41 PM ET, up +26% vs. last year's comparable pregame coverage and the most-watched Super Bowl pregame since 2016
  • FOX SUPER BOWL KICKOFF pulled in an average audience of 4.5 million from 1:00-2:00 PM ET on the FOX broadcast network
  • FOX Sports Super Bowl LIV coverage began with SKIP & SHANNON: UNDISPUTED SUPER BOWL SPECIAL, which attracted an average audience of 1.3 million on the FOX broadcast network from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM ET, the show's second most-watched telecast ever
  • The Presidential interview, which aired in the pregame show during the 3:30-3:45 PM ET window, drew 10.3 million viewers on the FOX broadcast network

HALFTIME

  • The Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show, featuring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, drew 104.1 million average viewers on the FOX broadcast network and FOX Deportes combined

DIGITAL

  • Super Bowl LIV is the most live-streamed Super Bowl in history, delivering an average minute audience of 3.4 million, up +30% over last year (vs. 2.6 million) and up +103% over FOX's last Super Bowl stream in 2017 (vs. 1.7 million), according to Adobe Analytics
  • The Super Bowl LIV live streaming audience includes consumption across FOXSports.com, the FOX Sports app, FOXDeportes.com, the FOX Deportes app, the FOX NOW app, NFL digital properties including the NFL app, the NFL Fantasy mobile app, NFL.com, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers mobile properties and Verizon Media mobile properties, including the Yahoo Sports mobile app
  • Super Bowl LIV was the single most talked-about U.S. television program since Super Bowl LII, generating 43.9 million interactions, up +36% over last year
  • Twitter conversation peaked at the end of the halftime show with 144,000 tweets at 8:26 PM ET

FOX DEPORTES

  • An average audience of 757,000 watched the game in Spanish on FOX Deportes' linear channel, including connected TV devices, setting the record for the most-watched Super Bowl game in Spanish-language television history
  • FOX Deportes eclipsed its own record of 654,000 set in 2017 by +16%
  • FOX Deportes now holds the three highest-rated Spanish-language telecasts in Super Bowl history

About FOX Sports

FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing FOX Corporation's wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, the business has ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing relationships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Network; FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports' digital properties include FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, which provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content, instant scores, stats and alerts to iOS and Android devices. Additionally, FOX Sports and social broadcasting platform Caffeine jointly own Caffeine Studios which creates exclusive eSports, sports and live entertainment content. Also included in FOX Sports' portfolio are FOX's interests in joint-venture business Big Ten Network, a licensing and commercial relationship with The Stars Group that created the FOX Bet sports betting platform and the FOX Sports Super 6 free-to-play game, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.

Roy Delgado is a freelance writer for WhatToWatch. His focus is streaming, specializing on sports. He binge-streams 32 games over the first two days of NCAA March Madness annually. He built his own DVR 15 years ago, and still tinkers to make his media setup its best.