In addition to helping draw the largest audience in Super Bowl history, pop empress Taylor Swift sparked the game’s record audience of women, 58.8 million of them.
Nielsen estimates that Super Bowl 58 drew 123.7 million viewers, a jump of 7.4% from the previous year’s game.
Of that crowd, 58.8 million were women, the most to ever watch a Super Bowl, representing a 9% increase in viewership compared with the previous National Football League title game, according to the New York Post.
The effect that Ms. Swift’s attendance at Kansas City Chiefs games in support of boyfriend Travis Kelce has had on women’s willingness to watch the NFL was the topic of discussion for much of the season and into the playoffs.
Watching Sunday’s game, which the Chiefs won 25-22 in overtime against the San Francisco 49ers, were 2.91 million girls ages 12 to 17, an 11% increase from Super Bowl 57, while 3.95 million women ages 18 to 24 watched, up 24%, according to Sportico. Women ages 35 to 64 also saw a viewership boost, rising 7% to 26.3 million.
By comparison, women ages 25 to 34 tuned in by just 1% over 2023, matching men of the same age range.
Ms. Swift appeared on screen during the CBS broadcast 12 times for a total of 54 seconds, less than 1% of the broadcast, according to a user who measured the appearances in a graphic for a post on a Reddit data analysis subforum.
For comparison, the new Las Vegas landmark, the Sphere, drew 23 seconds of airtime, according to the graphic.
Most of the airtime naturally went to the game itself.
“Sports is a big component of live viewing, but you’ve got to get everything right to get numbers like this. You’ve got to have a great game, great programming, great halftime show. You’ve got to have the longest hug and kiss [between Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce] ever watched on the planet. You’ve got to have everything come together,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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