A record local audience tuned into the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss to the Giants.
Sunday’s Giants/Patriots Super Bowl earned a 56.7 rating in Boston, the highest local NFL rating ever in the market. The previous record was set by the 2002 Patriots/Rams Super Bowl (56.1).
The Patriots three other Super Bowl appearances over the past decade earned local ratings of 55.6 (NYG/NE: 2008), 52.2 (NE/CAR: 2004) and 53.1 (NE/PHI: 2005).
In New York, the Giants’ win earned a 49.7 rating — up 11% from the 2008 Super Bowl (44.9), and the second-highest NFL rating in the market. Only the 1987 Giants/Broncos Super Bowl (53.4) earned better numbers.
Host-city Indianapolis (56.4) was the second-highest rated market for Sunday’s game, trailing only Boston. The market’s 56.4 rating marks a 5% increase from last year’s host-city Dallas (53.7) and ranks as the second-highest local rating ever for the Super Bowl host-city. Only Jacksonville in 2005 (58.9) earned better numbers.
Of course, last year’s 53.7 rating in Dallas equaled far more homes (1.39 million) than this year’s 56.4 in Indianapolis (626,000).
Other markets in the top ten for Sunday’s game include Norfolk, VA (54.2), Columbus, OH (54.1), New Orleans (54.0), Nashville (53.5), Jacksonville (53.5), Buffalo (52.9), Kansas City (52.1) and Milwaukee (52.0).
UPDATED 2/15: Fixed an error; the 2008 Giants/Patriots Super Bowl earned a 55.6 rating in Boston, not the 56.1 previously stated here.
(Sunday’s numbers form NBC Sports Group press release; 2008 NYG/NE local rating in Boston from Sports Business Daily)
