Survey from Nielsen, NFL reveals Super Bowl LVIII reached estimated 210 million viewers

The National Football League commissioned a custom survey from Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, to complement Nielsen’s audience measurement data and provide additional insights into this year’s Super Bowl audience estimates, with a focus on viewership in group settings.

According to the custom survey, Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 reached approximately 210 million viewers – nearly 2/3 of Americans – across CBS Television Network, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, and CBS Sports, Univision and NFL digital properties, including NFL+. This is a 4% increase compared with the 202 million unique viewers reported in Nielsen’s syndicated ratings service, which measures viewers that watched at least one minute of the game. The survey also revealed that the average minute audience was approximately 143 million viewers.

The Super Bowl stands alone in sports and entertainment spheres as an event in which a larger portion of viewers watch in out-of-home and group settings. The custom survey of 5,267 households examined the size of viewing groups, regardless of location, and to what extent those groups are larger than that which is currently measured by Nielsen today. The survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago using the AmeriSpeak panel.

“The Super Bowl is singular across the television and media landscape not only in its unparalleled viewership, but because it is largely watched in group settings,” said Paul Ballew, chief data and analytics officer of the NFL. “With that in mind, additional measurement is needed in order to have a complete picture of the total viewership of this special event and the results of this custom survey with Nielsen illustrate the true magnitude of the Super Bowl.”

“Nielsen understands the nuance of the Super Bowl, which historically has drawn the largest television audience of the year and includes unparalleled viewership from large groups of people, both in and out of homes,” said Deirdre Thomas, chief product officer at Nielsen. “We are proud that the NFL partners with Nielsen to provide the best possible measurement of their programming, for the Super Bowl and throughout the season. Additionally, we’re excited about the expansion of our National Out-Of-Home panel, which we announced earlier this month, because it will enhance our ability to provide the most complete picture of the audience, especially for major events like the Super Bowl.”

According to Nielsen’s National panel measurement, Super Bowl LVIII averaged nearly 124 million viewers on CBS Television Network, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, and CBS Sports, Univision and NFL digital properties, including NFL+. It ranks as the most-watched Super Bowl of all time.