Cincinnati, the home of the Bengals, led metered markets with a 46.1/84 rating/share, meaning 46.1 percent of all households in Cincinnati were watching Super Bowl LVI, and 84 percent of people who were watching TV were watching the game.
However, the Rams’ home market of Los Angeles was well out of the top 10 at 36.7/77 despite the team winning the game 23-20 with a late touchdown.
Detroit, the former home market for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, was just behind Cincinnati at 45.9/79.
The game was a major success for NBC, Telemundo and Peacock, all of which were simulcasting the game.
Cincinnati was not the only city to rake in big viewership numbers. After Detroit, Pittsburgh was next at 45.6/74. Columbus, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia and Jacksonville rounded out the top 10.
Statistics of the other 33 markets studied by NBC Sports were not immediately available.
The Super Bowl was part of what NBC called Super Gold Sunday with Olympic competition airing after the game.
“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,” NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Chairman Mark Lazarus said in a statement.
The Super Bowl racked up 167 million viewers across three platforms, with 99.2 million of those viewers tuning in on NBC. Telemundo, which made history as the first Spanish-language broadcast network to air the Super Bowl, averaged 1.9 million viewers in its telecast.
However, it was not only the game that drew in big numbers. The halftime show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem also resulted in some of the highest ratings for such a performance.
“The [group’s] powerhouse performances…rocked the ratings on Sunday night,” said Samba TV head of measurement Cole Strain, “shattering last year’s halftime audience drawing in millions of more viewers across both linear television and streaming.”
The success of Super Bowl LVI on all fronts comes as the NFL has been experiencing problems. The league and some teams are being sued by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores on accusations of discriminatory hiring practices.
The Super Bowl came after a tumultuous week for the recently renamed Washington Commanders, which saw everything from a sexual harassment hearing to an involuntary manslaughter charge and even a player saying he would like to dine with Adolf Hitler.
Update 2/15/22, 3:36 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
