The New England Patriots are poised to make history in this weekend’s Super Bowl, and so might be Fox.
The Patriots’ push for an undefeated season, the strong followings for the two teams involved and huge ratings already this year for football suggest Fox could draw the biggest crowd ever for this weekend’s Super Bowl XLII.
The Super Bowl viewership record was set in 1996, when 94.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, and this game has much in common with that one.
Like the Patriots, who have won three Super Bowl titles in the last six games, the Cowboys were a dynasty, winning their third title in four years in ’96. Dynasties tend to draw better in most sports championships, with recent ratings for multiple championships by the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and MLB’s New York Yankees bearing that out.
Also like the Patriots, who have NFL MVP Tom Brady and MVP contender Randy Moss, the 1996 Cowboys had three of the NFL’s top players in Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith, lending the game a glam factor that ramps up viewership.
And the Patriots are playing for history. No squad has ever gone 19-0, and New England is only one win away from joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only undefeated squads in the Super Bowl era. That possibility will keep viewers watching the game even if it’s a blowout, which usually leads to viewership falloffs in the second half.
“The top one factor that could have an influence on audience size in any sport in any event is probably events that are historic in nature, and this certainly falls into that category,” a Fox Sports spokesperson says.
Last year’s Super Bowl drew 93.2 million total viewers, second-best in Nielsen history. The game included one of the NFL’s biggest stars, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and a squad from the nation’s No. 3 TV market, the Chicago Bears.
This year Manning’s brother, Eli, will play in the championship for the New York Giants, who hail from the No. 1 TV market with more than 7.3 million households.
The Manning brothers are well known even to non-football fans for their endorsement deals, family lineage (dad Archie was also an NFLer) and tabloid presence. Eli made headlines before the NFC Championship game by reportedly banning his girlfriend and his brother from his luxury box lest they jinx him.
The final reason to expect a big turnout for the game is the huge ratings generally for football this season, boosted perhaps by a three-month writers’ strike that has viewers hungry for compelling, original content.
Last Sunday’s NFC Championship game drew the biggest non-Super Bowl audience in nearly a decade, with almost 54 million tuning in to watch the Giants top the Green Bay Packers in overtime.
Through Jan. 20, 13 of this television season’s 15 most-watched shows have been football games, and the top six games all featured either the Giants or Patriots.
At the least, the Super Bowl should generate Fox’s top total viewers and household rating numbers. The network’s previous best came in 1997, when the Packers beat the Patriots in the big game.
It drew 87.9 million total viewers and a 43.3 rating, the latter the Super Bowl’s second-highest rating in the last 11 games.
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20-YEAR SUPER BOWL VIEWERSHIP TRACK
Winners in bold
|
|
Year
|
NFC Champion
|
AFC Champion
|
Network
|
Households
|
Persons 2+
|
|
US Rtg%
|
Shr
|
(000)
|
(000)
|
|
2007
|
Chicago
|
Indianapolis
|
CBS
|
42.6
|
64
|
47,505
|
93,184
|
|
2006
|
Seattle
|
Pittsburgh
|
ABC
|
41.6
|
62
|
45,867
|
90,745
|
|
2005
|
Philadelphia
|
New England
|
FOX
|
41.1
|
62
|
45,081
|
86,072
|
|
2004
|
Carolina
|
New England
|
CBS
|
41.4
|
63
|
44,908
|
89,795
|
|
2003
|
Tampa Bay
|
Oakland
|
ABC
|
40.7
|
61
|
43,433
|
88,637
|
|
2002
|
St. Louis
|
New England
|
FOX
|
40.4
|
61
|
42,664
|
86,801
|
|
2001
|
NY Giants
|
Baltimore
|
CBS
|
40.4
|
61
|
41,270
|
84,335
|
|
2000
|
St. Louis
|
Tennessee
|
ABC
|
43.3
|
63
|
43,618
|
88,465
|
|
1999
|
Atlanta
|
Denver
|
FOX
|
40.2
|
61
|
39,992
|
83,720
|
|
1998
|
Green Bay
|
Denver
|
NBC
|
44.5
|
67
|
43,630
|
90,000
|
|
1997
|
Green Bay
|
New England
|
FOX
|
43.3
|
65
|
42,000
|
87,870
|
|
1996
|
Dallas
|
Pittsburgh
|
NBC
|
46.0
|
68
|
44,145
|
94,080
|
|
1995
|
San Francisco
|
San Diego
|
ABC
|
41.3
|
62
|
39,400
|
83,420
|
|
1994
|
Dallas
|
Buffalo
|
NBC
|
45.5
|
66
|
42,860
|
90,000
|
|
1993
|
Dallas
|
Buffalo
|
NBC
|
45.1
|
66
|
41,990
|
90,990
|
|
1992
|
Washington
|
Buffalo
|
CBS
|
40.3
|
61
|
37,120
|
79,590
|
|
1991
|
NY Giants
|
Buffalo
|
ABC
|
41.9
|
63
|
39,010
|
79,510
|
|
1990
|
San Francisco
|
Denver
|
CBS
|
39.0
|
63
|
35,920
|
73,852
|
|
1989
|
San Francisco
|
Cincinnati
|
NBC
|
43.5
|
68
|
39,320
|
81,590
|
|
1988
|
Washington
|
Denver
|
ABC
|
41.9
|
62
|
37,120
|
80,140
|
|
1987
|
NY Giants
|
Denver
|
CBS
|
45.8
|
66
|
40,030
|
87,190
|
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research
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