Big Game sets streaming record, with 13.6 million watching on Tubi

Tubi’s official Super Bowl debut was a smashing success. 13.6 million people watched the game on Tubi, making it the most streamed Super Bowl of all time.

“This was a watershed moment for Tubi, and a big milestone for live sports and free ad-supported streaming,” Tubi’s CEO Anjali Sud shared in a social media post.

The streaming platform reached a total 24 million unique viewers across its Super Bowl programming, with viewership peaking at 15.5 million people during the game, according to the company.

Fox — Tubi’s parent company — made a bold move by entrusting its free ad-supported TV (FAST) platform to stream the biggest TV event of the year. And it paid off: Tubi contributed significantly to the record-breaking 127.7 million people who watched the game, according to figures from Fox, Tubi and Nielsen.

“The credibility we will get in the space [from streaming] the game … that is going to go miles further than anything else,” Tubi CMO Nicole Parlapiano recently said on The Current Report. “Showing these advertisers that we have the chops to stream the biggest media event of the year, then you think of us in the same mind space as Netflix and not Pluto TV or Roku.”

Peacock and Paramount+ have already demonstrated that large-scale streaming is possible based on their past Super Bowl broadcasts. Now, Tubi sees itself as belonging to the same league.

Live sports streaming as a whole is gaining steam, with the Olympics, NFL playoff games, and boxing matches drawing crowds on streaming platforms. The NBA struck a $76 billion media rights deal that includes streaming rights, and even regional sports are moving away from broadcast.

Investing in data

By requiring new users to create a Tubi account to access the game, the FAST platform likely gained millions of authenticated users. This data-rich environment benefits both Tubi and advertisers, especially since viewers typically don’t need to log in to watch content on FAST platforms.

“The real triumph for Tubi and Fox might lie in the wealth of first-party data gathered through new authenticated user accounts like mine,” Shane Stender, SVP and managing partner at SilverBack Advertising, wrote on LinkedIn. “The anticipation of the data insights and the potential for increased email data present a significant opportunity for both companies. This strategic move towards data collection appears to be a substantial win compared to a conventional brand advertisement approach.”

Tubi also potentially exposed new audiences to the Super Bowl, as its FAST platform tends to attract younger viewers and more women, according to Parlapiano. The number of women watching NFL games has skyrocketed since Taylor Swift started dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, making Tubi a familiar place for them.

While Tubi viewers saw the same commercials that broadcast viewers did, Fox was reportedly shopping 15 second in-game ad slots on Tubi for $500,000 in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.

Two years after Tubi introduced itself to millions with its infamous “Interface Interruption” commercial during Super Bowl LVII, there’s no question live sports streaming is proving its worth.

"Tubi’s Super Bowl streaming experience proved that ad-supported platforms can rival traditional broadcasters and subscription services as a serious contender in premium entertainment,” Lucas Bertrand, CEO and Founder of Looper Insights, tells The Current.