Over 2.1 million people watched the Super Bowl final online this year, but total web traffic in the US fell by 20%, according to new data.
The figures, from US cable network NBC, looked at web use, as the final was legally streamed online for the first time.
The game was streamed on the NBCSports.com and NFL.com websites, and was also available to Verizon customers with access to NFL Mobile.
The turnout made it “the most-watched, single-game sports event ever online,” says NBC.
By comparison, the television broadcast grabbed 111.3 million viewers, making it the “most-watched television program in U.S. history.”
With all those people glued to their TV sets, overall web traffic apparently took a hit.
PCMag cites analytics data from a Sandvine report, which states: “At its farthest deviation from the normal level, Super Bowl Sunday’s Internet traffic was 20 percent lower than the average Sunday.”
Netflix was especially hard-hit: Sandvine claims the company’s TV and movie streaming traffic apparently decreased by 40% while the game was going on.
