Sunday night’s Super Bowl and Bad Bunny fell short of setting records for the most-watched American telecast and halftime show.
Seattle Seahawks‘ win 29-13 Above new England Patriots According to Nielsen’s Big Data+ panel ratings system, NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital and NFL+ averaged 124.9 million viewers.
This was down from the 127.7 million American viewers who watched. Philadelphia Eagles’ win 40-22 Above kansas city chiefs Last year on Fox.
However, Super Bowl XL is the most watched program in NBC history. The network is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15 to 8:30 pm ET. This would make it the fourth most-watched halftime single behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million, 2025), Michael Jackson (133.4 million, 1993) and Usher (129.3 million, 2024).
Maximum viewers set American record
Viewership for Sunday’s game reached 137.8 million during the second quarter (7:45–8 p.m. ET), a record. This surpassed the previous figure of 137.7 million during the second quarter of last year’s Super Bowl.
This year ended a streak of viewership increases for the previous four Super Bowls. This is the fifth consecutive year that the game has averaged more than 100 million viewers.
After three consecutive Super Bowls reaching the final moments, the last two years have lacked excitement.
Sunday’s game was the second in Super Bowl history in which no touchdowns were scored in the first three quarters. Seattle led 12–0 through the final 15 minutes.
Last year’s game was decided in the first half as Philadelphia blew a 24–0 lead and won 40–22.
bad bunny vs kid rock
The Turning Point USA halftime show featuring Kid Rock reached 5 million viewers at one point on YouTube.
Nielsen did not measure YouTube livestream viewership. Of the linear networks that carry it, Nielsen’s only measure is the broadcast network charge! Last week’s full Nielsen ratings will be released on Wednesday.
YouTube figures show the alternative halftime show has been viewed 21,208,583 times as of Tuesday night, according to the conservative organization’s page. Bad Bunny’s show has received 61,311,972 views on YouTube.
halftime show on social media
According to the NFL and Ripple Analytics, total social media consumption of Bad Bunny’s halftime show set a record of 4 billion views after the first 24 hours. This is an increase of 137% compared to last year.
Social media data includes fans, owned platforms, broadcast partners and influencers.
The NFL said that more than 55% of all social views came from international markets.
Full global viewership numbers for the halftime show are expected to be available early next week.
Spanish audience record
Telemundo averaged 3.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl Spanish-language telecast in the United States. The Super Bowl has been broadcast in the US in Spanish since 2014.
Viewership peaked during the halftime show, averaging 4.8 million viewers – making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime in Spanish-language history.
Olympics benefit from Super Bowl
NBC’s “Primetime in Milan” Olympic show, which included the women’s downhill and team figure skating events, averaged 42 million viewers, the network’s largest Winter Olympics audience since the second day of the 2014 Sochi Games.
This was a 73% increase from the Olympic show following Super Bowl LVI (24.3 million).
“The Super Bowl and the NFL once again delivered blockbuster audiences to the NBC broadcast networks, Peacock and Telemundo and provided an unprecedented boost to our ‘Primetime in Milan’ coverage,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said in a statement. “The Super Bowl and the Olympics are two of the most powerful events in the world, and we salute our talented production, tech and announcing teams who delivered best-in-class presentations for our viewers, stations and partners.”
Other NFL statistics
The NFL playoffs averaged 37 million viewers over the first three weekends, up 5% from last year and the second most in the last 10 years.
This was followed by a regular season that averaged 18.7 million viewers, the second-highest since the series averaged 18.7 million viewers in 1988. This was an increase of 10% from the previous season.
