We know all of Cincinnati was watching the Bengals take on the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, Feb. 13. But it turns out a large portion of the rest of America was, too.
According to stats provided by NBC, the game reached 112.3 million viewers across NBC and the channel's Telemundo, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital and Yahoo Sports mobile platforms, making it the most-watched show in five years, they say.
The last most-watched show, per a release, was Super Bowl LI in 2017 — when the New England Patriots took on the Atlanta Falcons — with 113.7 million viewers on FOX. Viewership of this year's game was also 4% higher than the 95.2 million who watched the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year.
"The Super Bowl once again delivered a massive audience, which included NBC and the unmatched power of broadcast television as well as first-ever presentations on Peacock and Telemundo, and led into our most-watched Olympics coverage in four years," said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, in the release.
NBC says Telemundo was the first "Spanish-language broadcast network to air the Super Bowl," and garnered 1.9 million viewers. NBC also says this was the "most-streamed Super Bowl ever," with 6 million tuning in across various streaming platforms that hosted the coverage.
The Bengals lost 20-23 in Super Bowl LVI, the team's first shot at the Vince Lombardi trophy since 1989. After earning a 10-7 regular-season record, winning the AFC North, and pulling out magical win after magical win in the post-season, the Bengals were thwarted on Feb. 13 by sacks and a lack of consistency.
But despite the Super Bowl defeat — which came near the end of the game — this Bengals team let Cincinnati fans dare to dream again after years of constant loss.
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