(Reuters) – A record 62.5 million viewers outside of the U.S. watched the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in last month’s Super Bowl, confirming on Wednesday that the National Football League is making progress in a push to grow its global presence.
While the number is modest when compared to other major sporting events such as the World Cup final, it still represents a 10% jump over the 2023 Super Bowl viewership in non-U.S. markets and points to progress in the NFL’s drive to expand its international footprint.
“The global interest in our game continues to grow rapidly, from fandom to participation, and the increase in international viewership underlines this,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business and league events, said in a statement.
“The Super Bowl is a moment that fuses sport and entertainment like nothing else, and Super Bowl LVIII was no exception, bringing together fans in every time zone around the world for a football and cultural spectacle.
“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.”
The Super Bowl played in Las Vegas was broadcast live in over 195 countries/territories in over 25 languages.
Internationally, Mexico generated the biggest audience with a record 24.1 million total viewers followed by Canada where 18.8 million tuned in, making it one of the top five most-watched English-language broadcasts on record in the country.
There were also major gains made in European markets that the NFL has been cultivating with the United Kingdom seeing an 18% jump in year-on-year viewers with 3.7 million watching and Germany seeing a 13% increase with a 3.8 million total audience.
Australia saw a massive 26% pop in viewers with three million while the NFL said the game was the most watched in the last seven years in China but did not provide any numbers.
Pop star Taylor Swift’s romance with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was a major storyline around the Super Bowl and was expected to help provide a bump in ratings.
With Swift cheering in the stands, the game drew a record 123.7 million U.S. viewers, according to Nielsen estimates.
The NFL made no mention of the Swift affect in its figures but did see a huge 39% jump in merchandise sales across NFL shop sites in Europe, Canada and Mexico.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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