Sunday night’s Super Bowl and Bad Bunny fell short of setting records for the most watched US broadcast and half-time show. Seattle’s 29-13 victory over New England averaged 124.9 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+, according to Nielsen. That fell short of the 127.7 million US viewers who tuned in for Philadelphia’s victory over Kansas City last year on Fox. However, this year’s Super Bowl became the most-watched program in NBC history as the network celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Bad Bunny’s half-time show averaged 128.2 million viewers, making it the fourth-most watched half-time show in history behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million in 2025), Michael Jackson (133.4 million in 1993) and Usher (129.3 million in 2024). The game did set one television audience record: the audience peaked at 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter, surpassing the previous mark of 137.7 million from last year’s Super Bowl. It is the fifth straight year the game has averaged more than 100 million viewers.
This year’s audience ended a streak in which the last four Super Bowls had experienced audience increases, possibly because the game was a fairly one-sided and dull affair on the field. Sunday’s game was just the second in Super Bowl history in which a touchdown had not been scored in the first three quarters, with Seattle leading 12-0 going into the final 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, total social media consumption of Bad Bunny’s half-time show set a record of 4 billion views after the first 24 hours, according to the NFL and Ripple Analytics – a 137% increase over last year. The NFL said more than 55% of all social views came from international markets. Full global viewership for the half-time show is expected early next week.
Bad Bunny’s presence may also have boosted the Spanish-language audience in the US. Telemundo averaged 3.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl Spanish-language broadcast in the United States. The audience peaked during the half-time show, averaging 4.8 million viewers – also a record for a Super Bowl half-time show in Spanish-language history.
