As the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years, nearly every Kansas City television in use was tuned to the game.
Super Bowl 54 averaged a 55.7 rating and 89 share in Kansas City, marking the highest rated sporting event in the market since the Royals’ World Series clincher in 2015 (60.0). The 89 share — meaning 89% of televisions in use were tuned to the game — exceeded the World Series game (80).
The 55.7 is the highest for the Super Bowl in Kansas City since 2014 (58.1) and up 20% from last year (46.4). According to Fox Sports executive Michael Mulvihill, the market peaked with a 62.6 rating and 97 share during the final quarter-hour, meaning only three percent of TVs in use were tuned to another program.
Kansas City led all markets, followed by Milwaukee (52.8), Nashville (52.5), Denver (52.0) and Boston (50.9).
The Bay Area ranked outside the top ten with a 48.6 rating and 83 share, down 1% from the 49ers’ previous Super Bowl appearance in 2013 (49.0). It was the market’s highest Super Bowl rating since it hosted the game in 2016 (49.1).
The last time Kansas City and the Bay Area played for a championship, Game 7 of the 2014 Giants-Royals World Series, the former averaged a 58.3 rating and the latter a 38.1.
Figures were not available for host market Miami-Ft. Lauderdale. Nor were figures available for New Orleans, which engineered a largely successful Super Bowl boycott last year.
[Nielsen estimates from Fox Sports, Michael Mulvihill/Twitter 2.3 a, b]
