NEW YORK -- The Super Bowl rebounded to draw an estimated 101.1 million television viewers who saw the Rams beat the Bengals on a late-game drive, proving the dominance of football as an audience magnet.
That was a 6% increase over the 95.2 million TV viewers who saw the Tampa Bay Bucs crowned as champions in 2021, the Nielsen company said on Tuesday.
The ratings improvement for what is traditionally the most-watched event of the year was no surprise, given the run of terrific playoff games leading up to it. Viewership for the NFL's divisional round was up 20% over last year, and the conference championships were up 10%, Nielsen said.