Seahawks’ Super Bowl win sets peak audience ratings record

The Seattle Seahawks' Super Bowl win fell short of setting ratings records for most watched U.S. broadcast, but did set some other marks.

BY JOE REEDY

Feb 10, 2026, 6:21 PM Updated: 8:25 pm

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SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: A general view is seen as the sun sets behind the stadium during the third quarter in Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

(Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

Sunday night’s Super Bowl and Bad Bunny fell short of setting ratings records for most watched U.S. broadcast and halftime show.

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The Seattle Seahawks’ 29-13 victory over New England averaged 124.9 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+, according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel rating system.

That fell short of the 127.7 million U.S. viewers that tuned in for Philadelphia’s 40-22 victory over Kansas City last year on Fox.

However, the audience for the game peaked at 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter (7:45-8 p.m. Eastern), which is a record. That surpassed the previous mark of 137.7 million during the second quarter of last year’s Super Bowl.

Super Bowl 60 is also the most-watched program in NBC history. The network is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15-8:30 p.m. Eastern. That would make it the fourth-most watched halftime behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million, 2025), Michael Jackson (133.4 million, 1993) and Usher (129.3 million, 2024).

This year’s audience ended a streak where the last four Super Bowls had experienced audience increases. It is the fifth straight year the game has averaged over 100 million viewers.

After three straight years of Super Bowls that came down to the final minute, the last two have lacked excitement.

Sunday’s game was the second in Super Bowl history in which a touchdown had not been scored in the first three quarters. Seattle was up 12-0 going into the final 15 minutes.

Last year’s game was decided in the first half as Philadelphia built a 24-0 lead en route to a 40-22 victory.