Super Bowl XLVII Sets Live Stream Viewership, Social Media Records

The live streams of Super Bowl XLVII from CBSSports.com, NFL.com, and NFL Mobile from Verizon drew a record number of viewers for a single game sports event in the United States on Sunday as fans turned to new platforms to watch what is being called the most social Super Bowl in history.

CBSSports.com drew 3 million unique viewers for the matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, up 43 percent from Super Bowl XLVI. As a result of nearly 10 million live video streams generated by users, up over 100 percent from last year, there were 114.4 million minutes streamed, up 46 percent from 2012.

Sunday also marked the largest recorded audience in this history of CBSSports.com. Coverage of Super Bowl XLVII from CBS drew a record 164.1 million viewers. The previous record was 162.9 million viewers for Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.

“This year’s record-setting engagement demonstrates that our fans are always looking for more ways to engage with NFL content,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy and development.

In addition to a record number of viewers online, Super Bowl XLVII became the most talked about event in the history of television. During the day, research firm Trendrr tracked over 52.5 million social comments, over three times more than the previous record set during the 2012 Grammy Awards and Super Bowl XLVI.

Of those 52.5 million social comments, over 24 million were during the game. The halftime show featuring Beyonce was a hit, accounting for about 32% of social media conversations. To no surprise, the most talked about ad was GoDaddy.com’s controversial ad featuring a geeky web designer engaging in a passionate kiss with supermodel Bar Refaeli. The ad generated 255,121 social mentions.

Photo Credit: CBS Press Express