Tom Brady's Super Bowl 2021 Win Drew Bigger TV Rating in Boston Than Tampa
Tom Brady may no longer wear a Patriots uniform but old habits die hard in New England, where plenty of football fans still seem to enjoy watching the now 43-year-old in action.
According to John Ourand of Sports Business Daily, Super Bowl LV on Sunday drew a bigger audience in Boston than it did in Tampa. Boston recorded a 57.6 rating, meaning 57.6 percent of all TV sets in the regional market were tuned in on CBS' coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The figure is higher than all but one of the TV ratings recorded for the Patriots' nine Super Bowl appearances during Brady's two decades in New England.
In Tampa, by contrast, the rating came in at 52.3.
There are, of course, several caveats to both figures. The nature of Super Bowl parties means ratings can be skewed, as they reflect the number of TVs tuned in as opposed to the size of the audience watching the game.
Several parties were held in Tampa on Sunday, with social distancing measures falling by the wayside as fans gathered en masse to watch Brady win his seventh Super Bowl and the Bucs' first in 18 years.
Any plans for similar events in New England were quickly shelved as the region was hit by a snowstorm on Sunday, leaving fans to watch from the comfort of their homes.
While some regional figures have already trickled out, the national TV ratings for Super Bowl LV won't be released until Tuesday at the earliest after Nielsen acknowledged a delay in tallying up the figures.
"Super Bowl numbers are still being processed and verified," a Nielsen spokesperson said in a statement on Monday evening.
"We anticipate that final viewing figures, which will include Out Of Home viewing, will be available to the media tomorrow. We will update the press and the industry accordingly when a final timeline is confirmed."
Super Bowl LIV last year drew a combined 102 million viewers across FOX—including Fox Deportes—the NFL and Verizon's digital properties. Some 99.9 million viewers tuned in on FOX alone to watch the Chiefs come from behind to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20.
Super Bowl LIII, Brady's last appearance in the NFL championship game until Sunday, was also broadcast by CBS and drew 10-year low total audience of 100.7 million across CBS and digital platforms. The 98.2 million viewers who tuned in on CBS to watch the Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 represented an 11-year Super Bowl low for the network.
Brady completed 21 of his 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-9 win over the Chiefs, securing a seventh Super Bowl ring and a fifth Super Bowl MVP crown.
The seventh Super Bowl title means Brady has now won the Vince Lombardi Trophy more times than any of the 32 NFL franchises. For the Bucs, meanwhile, it was the first title since they defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII and only the second in franchise history.
