The Kansas City Chiefs and their fans weren’t the only winners at Super Bowl LVIII. CBS Sports got themselves a pretty favorable result as well.
On Monday, CBS Sports’ PR account on X released the viewership numbers from the Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. The final tally classified the 58th Super Bowl as the most-viewed in history with 123.4 million viewers on average.
https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGang/status/1757231295044682130
It certainly helped that the league’s biggest star in Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was playing in the contest against a big-market team in the 49ers. The contest also stayed close throughout and even went into overtime, which increased the game’s stakes as well as its total duration for more fans to tune in.
There’s also a legitimate case that the added interest was in part due to Taylor Swift’s appearance while supporting her boyfriend and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Usher taking his shirt off during the Super Bowl halftime show might have bumped up the numbers a bit as well.
While the Super Bowl obliterates all other sporting events in the U.S. market, its numbers still pale in comparison to the global viewership numbers for soccer events like the quadrennial FIFA World Cup and the annual UEFA Champions League Final.
