Data: Super Bowl lag on all US streaming platforms
February 10, 2025
By Nik Roseveare
All major US streaming platforms had significant delays during Super Bowl LIX on February 9th according to data from Phenix – particularly Fubo (again), which was 78 seconds behind the action as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.
On top of delays – data from Phenix, a provider of real-time streaming video technology and experiences, also shows that extra lagging caused viewers who were even using the same platform to see the stream nearly a minute apart from each other.
“When we shared the results of our Super Bowl latency study back in 2023, I remember thinking then there was no excuse for delays and buffering, which honestly destroyed the viewing experience for fans during one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Unfortunately now, 728 days later, and I’m still saying the exact same thing. Fans are spending more than ever on way more services than they need to keep up with exclusivity rights and yet the experience on each continues to be subpar,” commented Jed Corenthal, CMO of Phenix and Former NFL Director of Marketing.
“For the last six years, our Super Bowl latency study has uncovered one of the major issues holding back streaming from being the beacon we all expected when we cut the cord. More than just being annoying for fans, the business implications around these latency issues are enormous. As a live event buffers or is over one minute behind what is actually happening on the field, things like real-time betting, second-screen viewing, peer interactions, and live fan engagements cannot happen. These features are the future of sports viewing and sports culture. The playing field (pun intended) is uneven and each season we deny fans what they’re looking for, frustration grows and networks miss out on massive opportunities. Thankfully the technology exists to remove this barrier, we just have to stop being afraid to use it,” added Roy Reichbach, CEO of Phenix.
Meanwhile, data from Samba TV shows that 37.1 million US households watched the 2025 Super Bowl. This is down 5 per cent from the 2024 Super Bowl, which was the highest Super Bowl viewership seen in the past six years; however, this is closely in line with 2022 and 2023, outpacing those two years between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.
Some 8.8 million US households watched Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show, down 4 per cent from Usher’s performance during the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
There was a significant drop-off in viewership throughout the course of the game, reports Samba TV. The peak audience was seen during the Halftime Show, with the percentage of total viewership falling from 100 per cent during the show to 70 per cent at the end of the game. By comparison, last year’s game ended with 89 per cent of the peak audience watching by the end of the game.
Ashwin Navin, Co-Founder & CEO at Samba TV, commented: “Coming off of five Grammy wins, Kendrick Lamar took to the stage for Apple Music’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, drawing in 28.8 million households watching in total and 311k tuning in just for the Halftime. Kendrick’s performance was a draw for younger viewers, with Gen Z households 9 per cent more likely to watch only the show and skip the game itself.”
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