American football’s NFL has announced an international total viewership of 62.5 million people for the 2023 edition of its showpiece season finale, the Super Bowl.
The figure, which excludes the league’s record domestic viewership of 123.4 million viewers in the US, is a 10% increase on the 2023 edition of the game.
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Super Bowl 58 – in which the Kansas City chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers – took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 11, and despite the later West Coast time zone which often deters overseas viewers, multiple countries reported double-digit year-on-year viewership growth for the game.
Among the biggest regions for growth internationally were Mexico and Canada, both of which border on the US and as such suffer less from the adverse time zone issue.
24.1 million people watched the game in Mexico, the most since records began and an increase of 5% on 2023, likely due to the nature of the two teams playing.
Both the 49ers and Chiefs hold international marketing rights for Mexico as a part of the NFL’s global markets program. Furthermore, the 49ers are a popular franchise among Mexican viewers given the community crossover in California and have played in Mexico in the past, a factor which also likely contributed to viewership.
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By GlobalDataCanada also recorded its highest Super Bowl total viewership on record, with a viewership of 18.8 million meaning that the game is within the top-five most watched English-language broadcasts in Canada on record.
In Europe, the UK and Germany both recorded increasing average viewerships of 18% and 13% respectively, owing to the growth of the game’s popularity in the two territories. The NFL now hosts international series games in both countries annually.
Peter O'Reilly, executive vice president of club business, major events, and international at the NFL, has stated: “The global interest in our game continues to grow rapidly, from fandom to participation, and the increase in international viewership underlines this.
“The global growth of the game is a major strategic focus for the league and the 32 teams, and we look forward to continued momentum in the coming years."
Even in countries where the NFL has never staged games viewership increased. Australia saw 26% growth in average viewership with a record average draw of 1.2 million, while in China, Super Bowl 58 was the most-watched edition in the past seven years.
