Last night’s Superbowl XLII was the most watched game in the history of professional football, Fox announced today (February 4).
According to Nielsen, almost 97.5 million people watched last night’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.
The action-packed game, which saw The New York Giants upset the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14, almost broke the record as the most-watched network-TV program of all time.
The record is held by the last episode of the popular CBS series “M*A*S*H,” with 106 million viewers.
“When we get on that plane and get back to New York everyone is gonna be smiling,” New York Giant Safety Gibril Wilson told AllHipHop.com. “I’m celebrating. [I’m] gonna pop some bottles.”
Over 107 million people tuned in to the hair-raising last half hour of the game alone, when Eli Manning threw the game winning touch down to Plaxico Burress, with just :35 seconds left in the game.
Wilson ended the game when he picked off a bomb from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady with :01 second left in the game.
“Congratulations to the New York Giants, the Buster Douglass of the NFL,” said Michael A. Smith of ESPN’s Around the Horn.
“That was the greatest upset since Nameth and the Jets,” Smith noted, referencing The New York Jets’ 1970 upset victory over The Baltimore Colts, which also set a viewing record and pushed the NFL’s Superbowl into popular culture.
Wilson and The New York Giants will be celebrating during a ticker-tape parade in honor of the Giants Super Bowl victory tomorrow (February 5) in New York.
The parade will begin on Broadway at Battery Place at 11:00 AM and continue northbound to Chambers Street, followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza.