Super Bowl predicted to have the hugest audience yet: PredictHQ

The 2022 Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams is projected to reach a record audience, and betting around the contest could surpass $7 billion.

The viewership projection comes from data analytics firm PredictHQ, which estimates the National Football League’s championship game will attract 117 million viewers on NBC’s network, the host of this year’s Super Bowl. That would be an increase of 21% compared to the 2021 Super Bowl, which attracted 96.4 million viewers, the NFL’s lowest audience since 2007.

PredictHQ projections would also surpass the top-rated Super Bowl in 2015 between the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. That contest drew 114 million viewers on NBC and still ranks as the most-watched show in television history.

“It’s high, but it’s something our models have been looking at,” said PredictHQ CEO Campbell Brown of the 2022 Super Bowl projection. “And we’re always calibrating and making sure our models are on point,” he added.

PredictHQ uses consumer buying behavior around live events to help forecast demand for companies, including Uber and quick-serve restaurants like Dominos. The San Francisco-based tech company also has a deal with Amazon under whichPredictHQ’s software serves as Alexa’s “event brain” – helping the device answer inquiries about live events.

“We’re the ones feeding Alexa that information,” Brown said. “We’re the only ones doing it,” he added. “We’re making our customers more real-world aware.”

For its Super Bowl 56 projection, PredictHQ is using buying behavior around the game and factoring in “team performance, game outcome uncertainty, star players, location, and prior NFL viewership.”

PredictHQ projects Super Bowl 56 will reach roughly 13.3 million viewers throughout California, and 4.2 million people in Ohio, which will be watching the first Super Bowl that includes the Bengals since the team lost to the 49ers in the 1988 NFL season. The Bengals are 0-2 in their Super Bowl game appearances.

Brown, who labeled PredictHQ a “demand intelligence” company, said the firm predicted last year’s Super Bowl viewership total with a 99.6% accuracy rate two weeks before the game.

—PredictHQ did not estimate viewership around the 2020 Super Bowl as it rolled out its demand intelligence product later that year. But it did project viewership for the Kansas City Chiefs versus Buffalo Bills AFC divisional matchup last month.

Brown said PredictHQ estimated that AFC showdown would reach roughly 46 million viewers. The official number was an average of 42.7 million viewers, peaking at 51.6 million….