Super Bowl LIX vs India-Pakistan game viewership: Astonishing numbers show how cricket is way ahead of football
India defeated rivals Pakistan in the second group stage game of the Champions Trophy thanks to a smooth centruy by the ex-skip Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli, AJ Brown (images via Mumbai Indians/X)
The India versus Pakistan match at the Champions Trophy drove many viewers glued to their screens. The cricketing rivals, who share a long political history, are two of the biggest rivalries in the world if not for the Indian subcontinent.
The latest Champions Trophy game broke the country’s broadcasting records, with a peak concurrency of 602 million viewers when Virat Kohli secured India’s victory and a personal 82nd international century. The match began with 6.2 million viewers when Mohammed Shami came onto the pitch to bowl the first ball. The numbers rose until it hit 602 million viewers.
The recent game is a testimonial of the wide fanbase in India and the amount of craze for a single game. The earlier games between India and Pakistan also drew similar but very small crowds. The previous record for peak concurrency was 3.5 crore viewers, set in 2023 when India faced Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup on the former Disney+ Hotstar platform. During the Asia Cup, the India vs. Pakistan match saw a peak concurrency of 2.8 crore viewers.
In contrast, despite being the most-watched Super Bowl in history, the Super Bowl LIX in way far from these viewership numbers. The game, hosted in New Orleans, set a new viewership record with an average audience of 127.7 million, reaching a peak of 137.7 million in the second quarter. It was broadcast across Fox, Fox Deportes, Telemundo, and NFL digital platforms. Tubi’s simulcast set a Super Bowl streaming record with a peak of 15.5 million concurrent viewers.
The Apple Music Halftime Show, headlined by Kendrick Lamar, drew an average of 133.5 million viewers. Tubi’s coverage attracted 24 million unique viewers throughout the game-day programming, leveraging Fox’s Tempe, Arizona, livestreaming facility to deliver up to 4K video quality.
Cricket is slowly catching up to the NFL in advertisement revenue as well
The hyped-up India and Pakistan duel in Dubai also queued up several brands as they fought to buy the limited commercial advertisement spots. Companies are spending a staggering ₹50 lakh ($57,000 approx) for a 10-second ad spot during the match, nearly three times the rate of an IPL match, where similar spots during the playoffs cost around ₹18 lakh.
Although cricket boasts more viewers than the NFL, it still has a behemoth difference when it comes to monetizing its value. Nevertheless, it has been slowly catching up, considering that a 10-20 lakh increment has been seen in just about a year and a half. The games between rivals like India and Pakistan are seen as a marketing goldmine with several brands even releasing specific deals and licensed products to take advantage of the situation.
The NFL has brokered deals with higher global brands like Apple, Nike, and Pepsi whose brand reach is spread across several nations.
The other factors that provide the NFL a better hand on ad revenues include the limited or scarcity of the league – unlike cricket matches, the highest form of professional American football happens only once a year. Furthermore, the target audience tied up with the NFL possesses more disposable income which brings in big brands.
Cricket and gridiron football are both niche sports, however, the latter has been remodeled into a cash-rich league through many diversified revenue streams
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