Patriots Super Bowl victory second-most-watched of all time

Sunday’s thrilling Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons ranks as the second most-watched of all time with 113.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers released Monday. 

{mosads}The historic comeback by the Patriots turned a game that was a one-sided affair for more than half the outing into must-see TV as the Pats reeled off 31 unanswered points to win 34-28 in overtime, with Nielsen’s metered markets registering a 48.8 overnight ratings. That ranks behind only 2015’s game, when the Pats won a last-second squeaker against the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. 

The total audience number does not derive from the broadcast aspect alone, and also includes 1.7 million streaming viewers and an additional 650,000 from the Spanish-language simulcast of the game from Houston on Fox Deportes. 
The game was the first Super Bowl in 51 years to go to overtime, adding to the drama. New England won the coin toss and marched 80 yards for the winning score on a short touchdown run by tailback James White. 

The big Super Bowl ratings comes at the end of a season when NFL ratings dropped a total of 8 percent overall.

Media analysis point to unprecedented interest in the presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton taking away viewers as one factor, with an over-saturation of NFL games every Thursday night, all day and evening Sunday and every Monday night as contributing factors. 

The Patriots will celebrate their fifth Super Bowl win with a parade on Tuesday in Boston.