For some reason, Kansas City was the top market for Sunday’s Super Bowl 48.
Super Bowl 48 earned a 58.1 rating in Kansas City, the top rating of any metered market for the game. Kansas City did not even make the top ten last year. According to the Kansas City Star, this marks the first time since Patriots/Panthers in 2004 that Kansas City was the top market for the Super Bowl — another game that did not feature the home team.
Seattle ranked second among all markets with a 56.7 rating, up 3% from the Seahawks’ loss in Super Bowl 40 (55.0). The game earned a massive 92 share in the market — meaning than 92% of the televisions in use were tuned to the Super Bowl.
The Broncos’ blowout loss earned a 51.4 rating in Denver, down just a fraction of a percentage point from the team’s win in Super Bowl 33 (51.6). In Indianapolis, where Broncos QB Peyton Manning played for more than a decade, the game drew a 53.9 — down 1% from last year (54.2).
Host market New York City finished out of the top ten with a 50.5 rating, down 12% from New Orleans last year (57.1), and down 10% from Indianapolis in 2012 (56.4). Of course, as New York is the top market in the U.S. by a wide margin, the 50.5 rating accounted for many more television homes.
Other top ten markets not previously mentioned include New Orleans (53.9), Tulsa (52.9), Las Vegas (52.5), Portland (52.4), Knoxville, TN (52.3), and Jacksonville (52.0).
(Local numbers from Sports Business Daily, Kansas City Star)
