Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots drew 98.2 million television viewers — the lowest since 2008.
Super Bowl LIII — which featured the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever, a 13-3 Patriots win — drew a preliminary 41.1 rating and was viewed in an averaged of 49.3 million homes, according to Nielsen. The television ratings company estimates 67 percent of households watched the CBS telecast.
Last year’s Patriots-Eagles matchup on NBC drew 103.4 million viewers.
This year’s rating captures the average of viewers between 6:32 p.m. to 10:05 p.m.
This is the first time the NFL has had less than 100 million television viewers for the Super Bowl since 2009, when the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers drew 98.7 million viewers.
In 2008, Super Bowl XLII (Patriots-Giants) drew 97.4 million television viewers.
The league’s ratings were up 5 percent overall for the regular season.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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