The New England PatriotsB次元官网网址� competitive but action-starved Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams was seen by 100.7 million people on television and streaming services, the smallest audience for footballB次元官网网址檚 annual spectacle in a decade.
A boycott by disgruntled New Orleans Saints fans, a campaign by fans of quarterback Colin Kaepernick and a game with only one touchdown combined to shrink the audience. On CBS alone, the game was seen by 98.2 million people, compared to 103.4 million who watched on NBC last year, according to the Nielsen company.
Since reaching a peak of 114.4 million viewers for the PatriotsB次元官网网址� 2015 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the Super Bowl audience has slipped each year since. The Super Bowl is traditionally the most-watched television event of the year in the U.S., and its audience hadnB次元官网网址檛 dipped below 100 million since the Pittsburgh Steelers-Arizona Cardinals game in 2009.
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CBS dealt with a city that held a major grudge. Many fans in New Orleans, where the hometown Saints were victimized by a blown refereeB次元官网网址檚 call toward the end of its loss to the Rams in the NFC championship, skipped the game entirely. Preliminary ratings from New Orleans showed that Super Bowl viewership this year was half what it was in 2018.
New OrleansB次元官网网址� Times Picayune newspaper printed a mostly blank front page on Monday with the words, B次元官网网址淪uper Bowl?B次元官网网址� What Super Bowl?B次元官网网址�
The newspaper asked, B次元官网网址測ou think the NFL is sad that the Saints werenB次元官网网址檛 in it to spice up the night?B次元官网网址�
There was also a campaign on Twitter by people who said they would not watch the game because of Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who hasnB次元官网网址檛 been able to land a job in the NFL since leading demonstrations in protest of police treatment of minorities.
After a season of offensive fireworks and conference championships that both went into overtime, SundayB次元官网网址檚 game was a defensive struggle where the teams were tied 3-3 entering the fourth quarter. ThatB次元官网网址檚 a tough slog for the casual fan, and the Super Bowl draws millions who donB次元官网网址檛 watch football regularly.
At one point CBS commentator Tony Romo said, B次元官网网址渢his is hard to watch.B次元官网网址� Others were blunter still. The website The Ringer said that B次元官网网址渢he historically boring Super Bowl sent football back to the Stone Age.B次元官网网址�
Cindy Boren of The Washington Post wrote that it was B次元官网网址渁 snore of a Super Bowl.B次元官网网址� The New York Times headlined a story: B次元官网网址淗ow boring was the Super Bowl? The punts got exciting.B次元官网网址�
The words B次元官网网址渂oringB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淪uper BowlB次元官网网址� appeared in the same tweets more than 70,000 times in the past 24 hours. The words B次元官网网址渨orstB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淪uper BowlB次元官网网址� were matched more than 50,000 times.
If anything, football fans have been spoiled by a string of competitive Super Bowls after many years in which big game blowouts became commonplace. This year the gameB次元官网网址檚 outcome was in doubt until the final seconds, but it had only one touchdown and few scoring threats.
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The one growth area for CBS was streaming. The network said an average of 2.6 million people streamed the game, up 31 per cent over last year.
CBS did achieve its goal of having a large audience sample its new talent show, B次元官网网址淭he WorldB次元官网网址檚 Best.B次元官网网址� Nielsen said 22.2 million people watched the showB次元官网网址檚 debut, the most-watched entertainment show since the Oscars last year and the biggest entertainment premiere on TV since B次元官网网址淯ndercover BossB次元官网网址� debuted after the Super Bowl nine years ago.
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Associated Press reporter Eric Carvin in New York contributed to this report.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
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