The Super Bowl and The Game Awards are, quite obviously, very different events, but looking at the reported numbers for both side-by-side raises some curiosities, with Geoff Keighley's presentation last December appearing to trounce Sunday's showdown between the Patriots and Seahawks.
NBC Sports shared that the network's telecast of Super Bowl LX (or 60, for those innumerate with Roman digits) was the most-watched show in NBC's history, averaging 124.9 million viewers. That makes it the second-most-watched television program in United States history, behind last year's Super Bowl on Fox. Additionally, this year's big game reached a high of 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter, which is the highest viewership peak ever in American television.
Meanwhile, The Game Awards 2025, during which Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took the top prize, is said to have reached over 171 million global livestreams, an 11% increase from last year's ceremony/barrage of reveal trailers.
For additional context, NBC counts viewership from NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and the NFL+ streaming service, while The Game Awards streamed on YouTube, Twitch, Steam, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and a heap of platforms from China, Japan, and South Korea, including Bilbili, Weibo, and a bunch you've likely never heard of. The numbers would likely be quite different if the Super Bowl were streamed on that many free platforms.
The Game Awards cites StreamCharts for an estimated number of 4.4 million peak concurrent viewers across YouTube, Twitch, and "other Western platforms," a paltry figure compared to any Super Bowl broadcast. We'll have to take the award show organizers' word about the massive figure of 171 million streams and assume it comes from international viewers.
The Seattle Seahawks handily defeated the New England Patriots, 29-13, in an outcome that generally lined up with a Madden NFL 26 simulation. Between the Super Bowl advertisements for gambling apps and AI was a spot featuring Lady Gaga singing the Jigglypuff song celebrating Pokemon's 30th anniversary.
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NBC Sports shared that the network's telecast of Super Bowl LX (or 60, for those innumerate with Roman digits) was the most-watched show in NBC's history, averaging 124.9 million viewers. That makes it the second-most-watched television program in United States history, behind last year's Super Bowl on Fox. Additionally, this year's big game reached a high of 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter, which is the highest viewership peak ever in American television.
Meanwhile, The Game Awards 2025, during which Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took the top prize, is said to have reached over 171 million global livestreams, an 11% increase from last year's ceremony/barrage of reveal trailers.
Thank you for making 2025 the most-watched #TheGameAwards ever.
Viewership up 11% YoY
171M+ global livestreams of the full show
Conversation on X up 12% YoY
23,000 co-streams on Twitch & YouTube (+50% YoY) pic.twitter.com/8ZL95TIsPS
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 17, 2025
For additional context, NBC counts viewership from NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and the NFL+ streaming service, while The Game Awards streamed on YouTube, Twitch, Steam, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and a heap of platforms from China, Japan, and South Korea, including Bilbili, Weibo, and a bunch you've likely never heard of. The numbers would likely be quite different if the Super Bowl were streamed on that many free platforms.
The Game Awards cites StreamCharts for an estimated number of 4.4 million peak concurrent viewers across YouTube, Twitch, and "other Western platforms," a paltry figure compared to any Super Bowl broadcast. We'll have to take the award show organizers' word about the massive figure of 171 million streams and assume it comes from international viewers.
The Seattle Seahawks handily defeated the New England Patriots, 29-13, in an outcome that generally lined up with a Madden NFL 26 simulation. Between the Super Bowl advertisements for gambling apps and AI was a spot featuring Lady Gaga singing the Jigglypuff song celebrating Pokemon's 30th anniversary.
Source