NBC tells the Associated Press that the Super Bowl was the "most-watched single-game sports event online."
NBC and the NFL have been streaming certain games online since 2009 but this was the first time that the season's grand finale was available. Verizon and Bell Canada customers were also able to enjoy the game using mobile apps.
Network policy company Sandvine's traffic statistics show that 6.2% of downstream network traffic at 9pm on Sunday was dedicated to NBCSports.com. That's the type of traffic usually reserved for the Internet's biggest websites, according to Sandvine. (See chart for details.)
But while NBCSports.com and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter featured surges in traffic, Internet usage as a whole was down for the night, thanks to the large number of people tuned into the game on TV. In fact, Sandvine's traffic charts show that Netflix usage in North America dropped by up to 40% on Sunday night.
When users were online, many used phones or tablets. Google's Mobile Ads Blog reports that mobile devices accounted for 41% of searches for Super Bowl TV ads during the game itself. (See Google chart for details.)
Top terms, including "Madonna" and "Clint Eastwood" were huge winners in mobile and tablet search. In fact, Google reports that smartphone searches for Clint Eastwood were up 5,500% during the game.
This reinforces the growing trend toward second screen viewing. As a Nielsen study recently pointed out, nearly half of all smartphone and tablet users employ their devices while watching TV.
We've known that sports are big performers in the social TV space. One nice thing about major events like the Super Bowl is that they can help set trends for other types of programming.