When the Kansas Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles meet on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to decide the champion of the National Football League in Super Bowl LVII, more than 100 million people will be watching.
To determine the most-watched Super Bowls, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data from Nielsen and Sports Media Watch. Super Bowls were ranked based on total reported television audience. Official results and MVP awards came from ESPN.
The Super Bowl has been America’s biggest party day of the year for decades, where bowls of chili, plates of buffalo wings, trays of sliders, buckets of guacamole, and gallons of beer are consumed. It didn’t start out that way. When the game was first played in 1967, just 26.8 million people, watching on two networks, saw the old-guard Green Bay Packers of the NFL demolish the upstart Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL, 35-10. Viewership soared 46% the following year to 39.1 million.
Interest has steadily grown over the years, despite the fact some of the games were mismatches, buoyed by the debut of memorable commercials and halftime shows featuring such acts as Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones. (See who has performed at every Super Bowl halftime show.)
The best games tend to garner the highest television ratings, as viewers quickly tune out if the action is less than exciting. Seven of the 12 highest-viewed Super Bowls were games decided by six points or less.
The 10 most-watched Super Bowls have all been since 2010. And sorry, haters of the New England Patriots – that six-time Super Bowl champion team has been in four of the most-viewed title games of all time. (On the other hand, these are the 12 NFL teams that have never won a Super Bowl.)
56. Super Bowl I (1967)
> Total television viewership: 26.8 million
> Result: Green Bay (35), Kansas City (10)
> MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay
55. Super Bowl II (1968)
> Total television viewership: 39.1 million
> Result: Green Bay (33), Oakland (14)
> MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay
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54. Super Bowl III (1969)
> Total television viewership: 41.7 million
> Result: New York Jets (16), Baltimore (7)
> MVP: Joe Namath, QB, New York Jets
53. Super Bowl IV (1970)
> Total television viewership: 44.3 million
> Result: Kansas City (23), Minnesota (7)
> MVP: Len Dawson, QB, Kansas City
52. Super Bowl V (1971)
> Total television viewership: 46.0 million
> Result: Baltimore (16), Dallas (13)
> MVP: Chuck Howley, LB, Dallas
51. Super Bowl VIII (1974)
> Total television viewership: 51.7 million
> Result: Miami (24), Minnesota (7)
> MVP: Larry Csonka, FB, Miami
50. Super Bowl VII (1973)
> Total television viewership: 53.3 million
> Result: Miami (14), Washington (7)
> MVP: Jake Scott, S, Miami
49. Super Bowl IX (1975)
> Total television viewership: 56.1 million
> Result: Pittsburgh (16), Minnesota (6)
> MVP: Franco Harris, RB, Pittsburgh
48. Super Bowl VI (1972)
> Total television viewership: 56.6 million
> Result: Dallas (24), Miami (3)
> MVP: Roger Staubach, QB, Dallas
47. Super Bowl X (1976)
> Total television viewership: 57.7 million
> Result: Pittsburgh (21), Dallas (17)
> MVP: Lynn Swann, WR, Pittsburgh
46. Super Bowl XI (1977)
> Total television viewership: 62.0 million
> Result: Oakland (32), Minnesota (14)
> MVP: Fred Biletnikoff, WR, Oakland
45. Super Bowl XV (1981)
> Total television viewership: 68.3 million
> Result: Oakland (27), Philadelphia (10)
> MVP: Jim Plunkett, QB, Oakland
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44. Super Bowl XXIV (1990)
> Total television viewership: 73.9 million
> Result: San Francisco (55), Denver (10)
> MVP: Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco
43. Super Bowl XIII (1979)
> Total television viewership: 74.7 million
> Result: Pittsburgh (35), Dallas (31)
> MVP: Terry Bradshaw, QB, Pittsburgh
42. Super Bowl XIV (1980)
> Total television viewership: 76.2 million
> Result: Pittsburgh (31), Los Angeles Rams (19)
> MVP: Terry Bradshaw, QB, Pittsburgh
41. Super Bowl XVIII (1984)
> Total television viewership: 77.6 million
> Result: Los Angeles Raiders (38), Washington (9)
> MVP: Marcus Allen, RB, Los Angeles Raiders
40. Super Bowl XII (1978)
> Total television viewership: 78.9 million
> Result: Dallas (27), Denver (10)
> MVP: Harvey Martin & Randy White, DL, Dallas
39. Super Bowl XXV (1991)
> Total television viewership: 79.5 million
> Result: New York Giants (20), Buffalo (19)
> MVP: Ottis Anderson, RB, New York Giants
38. Super Bowl XXVI (1992)
> Total television viewership: 79.6 million
> Result: Washington (37), Buffalo (24)
> MVP: Mark Rypien, QB, Washington
37. Super Bowl XXII (1988)
> Total television viewership: 80.1 million
> Result: Washington (42), Denver (10)
> MVP: Doug Williams, QB, Washington
36. Super Bowl XXIII (1989)
> Total television viewership: 81.6 million
> Result: San Francisco (20), Cincinnati (16)
> MVP: Jerry Rice, WR, San Francisco
35. Super Bowl XVII (1983)
> Total television viewership: 81.8 million
> Result: Washington (27), Miami (17)
> MVP: John Riggins, RB, Washington
34. Super Bowl XXIX (1995)
> Total television viewership: 83.4 million
> Result: San Francisco (49), San Diego (26)
> MVP: Steve Young, QB, San Francisco
33. Super Bowl XXXIII (1999)
> Total television viewership: 83.7 million
> Result: Denver (34), Atlanta (19)
> MVP: John Elway, QB, Denver
32. Super Bowl XXXV (2001)
> Total television viewership: 84.3 million
> Result: Baltimore (34), New York Giants (7)
> MVP: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore
31. Super Bowl XVI (1982)
> Total television viewership: 85.2 million
> Result: San Francisco (26), Cincinnati (21)
> MVP: Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco
30. Super Bowl XIX (1985)
> Total television viewership: 85.5 million
> Result: San Francisco (38), Miami (16)
> MVP: Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco
29. Super Bowl XXXIX (2005)
> Total television viewership: 86.1 million
> Result: New England (24), Philadelphia (21)
> MVP: Deion Branch, WR, New England
28. Super Bowl XXXVI (2002)
> Total television viewership: 86.8 million
> Result: New England (20), St. Louis (17)
> MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England
27. Super Bowl XXI (1987)
> Total television viewership: 87.2 million
> Result: New York Giants (39), Denver (20)
> MVP: Phil Simms, QB, New York Giants
26. Super Bowl XXXI (1997)
> Total television viewership: 87.9 million
> Result: Green Bay (35), New England (21)
> MVP: Desmond Howard, KR, Green Bay
25. Super Bowl XXXIV (2000)
> Total television viewership: 88.5 million
> Result: St. Louis (23), Tennessee (16)
> MVP: Kurt Warner, QB, St. Louis
24. Super Bowl XXXVII (2003)
> Total television viewership: 88.6 million
> Result: Tampa Bay (48), Oakland (21)
> MVP: Dexter Jackson, CB, Tampa Bay
23. Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004)
> Total television viewership: 89.8 million
> Result: New England (32), Carolina (29)
> MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England
22. Super Bowl XXVIII (1994)
> Total television viewership: 90.0 million
> Result: Dallas (30), Buffalo (13)
> MVP: Emmitt Smith, RB, Dallas
21. Super Bowl XXXII (1998)
> Total television viewership: 90.0 million
> Result: Denver (31), Green Bay (24)
> MVP: Terrell Davis, RB, Denver
20. Super Bowl XL (2006)
> Total television viewership: 90.8 million
> Result: Pittsburgh (21), Seattle (10)
> MVP: Hines Ward, WR, Pittsburgh
19. Super Bowl XXVII (1993)
> Total television viewership: 91.0 million
> Result: Dallas (52), Buffalo (17)
> MVP: Troy Aikman, QB, Dallas
18. Super Bowl XX (1986)
> Total television viewership: 92.6 million
> Result: Chicago (46), New England (10)
> MVP: Richard Dent, DE, Chicago
17. Super Bowl XLI (2007)
> Total television viewership: 93.2 million
> Result: Indianapolis (29), Chicago (17)
> MVP: Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis
16. Super Bowl XXX (1996)
> Total television viewership: 94.1 million
> Result: Dallas (27), Pittsburgh (17)
> MVP: Larry Brown, CB, Dallas
15. Super Bowl LV (2021)
> Total television viewership: 95.2 million
> Result: Tampa Bay (31), Kansas City (9)
> MVP: Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay
14. Super Bowl XLII (2008)
> Total television viewership: 97.5 million
> Result: New York Giants (17), New England (14)
> MVP: Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants
13. Super Bowl LIII (2019)
> Total television viewership: 98.2 million
> Result: New England (13), Los Angeles Rams (3)
> MVP: Julian Edelman, WR, New England
12. Super Bowl XLIII (2009)
> Total television viewership: 98.7 million
> Result: Pittsburgh (27), Arizona (23)
> MVP: Santonio Holmes, WR, Pittsburgh
11. Super Bowl LVI (2022)
> Total television viewership: 99.2 million
> Result: Los Angeles Rams (23), Cincinnati (20)
> MVP: Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
10. Super Bowl LIV (2020)
> Total television viewership: 100.5 million
> Result: Kansas City (31), San Francisco (20)
> MVP: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City
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9. Super Bowl LII (2018)
> Total television viewership: 103.4 million
> Result: Philadelphia (41), New England (33)
> MVP: Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia
8. Super Bowl XLIV (2010)
> Total television viewership: 106.5 million
> Result: New Orleans (31), Indianapolis (17)
> MVP: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans
7. Super Bowl XLVII (2013)
> Total television viewership: 108.7 million
> Result: Baltimore (34), San Francisco (31)
> MVP: Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore
6. Super Bowl XLV (2011)
> Total television viewership: 111.0 million
> Result: Green Bay (31), Pittsburgh (25)
> MVP: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay
5. Super Bowl LI (2017)
> Total television viewership: 111.3 million
> Result: New England (34), Atlanta (28)
> MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England
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4. Super Bowl XLVI (2012)
> Total television viewership: 111.3 million
> Result: New York Giants (21), New England (17)
> MVP: Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants
3. Super Bowl 50 (2016)
> Total television viewership: 111.9 million
> Result: Denver (24), Carolina (10)
> MVP: Von Miller, LB, Denver
2. Super Bowl XLVIII (2014)
> Total television viewership: 112.2 million
> Result: Seattle (43), Denver (8)
> MVP: Malcolm Smith, LB, Seattle
1. Super Bowl XLIX (2015)
> Total television viewership: 114.4 million
> Result: New England (28), Seattle (24)
> MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England
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