Super Bowl averages 113 million, third most-watched in history
Fox was hoping the matchup of two top teams in the Super Bowl and a close game would lead to a record night.
Even though Sunday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles came down to a field goal with 8 seconds remaining, Fox fell just short of its goal.
The Chiefs' rally to defeat the Eagles 38-35 was the third most-watched television show in history, with an average of 113.1 million people watching, according to final numbers released Tuesday by Nielsen.
The total includes the broadcasts on Fox and Fox Deportes as well as streaming on Fox and the NFL's digital sites. The figures are via Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
The 2015 game between New England and Seattle on NBC holds the record at 114,442,000 viewers (not including streaming), followed by Super Bowl 51 in 2017 on Fox between Atlanta and New England (113,668,000).
CARDINALS HIRE EAGLES DC GANNON AS NEXT COACH >> The Arizona Cardinals hired Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon on Tuesday to be their next head coach.
Gannon replaces Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired last month after going 4-13 in his fourth season. Gannon becomes Arizona's fourth coach in seven years and the second Eagles coordinator to become a head coach after Shane Steichen was hired by Indianapolis on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old Gannon has been Philadelphia's defensive coordinator the past two seasons, helping rebuild a defense that helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl last Sunday. The Eagles lost to Kansas City 3835 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Cardinals. COLTS HIRE EAGLES OC STEICHEN AS NEXT COACH >> The Indianapolis Colts have hired Shane Steichen as their head coach.
The move announced Tuesday ends a search that took more than a month, involved more than a dozen candidates and finally gives the Colts some direction in what still appears to be a tumultuous offseason.
Each of Indy's last two full-time hires were offensive coordinators for Philadelphia Eagles teams that made the Super Bowl. Frank Reich was hired in 2018 after the Eagles won their first championship since 1960 but was fired in October as the Colts' season started to unravel.
He was replaced by interim coach Jeff Saturday, who won his first game but lost the final seven to give Indy the No. 4 overall draft pick. Saturday was one of the finalists for the full-time gig.
MLB
WACHA, PADRES IN AGREEMENT ON CONTRACT >> Righthander Michael Wacha has agreed in principle to a contract with the San Diego Padres, according to two people with knowledge of the deal.
The people spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday because the deal was still being finalized and pending Wacha passing a physical. The contract was believed to be for multiple years, similar to what the Padres gave right-hander Nick Martinez last year, and both people described it as “complicated.”
The 31-year-old Wacha was 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 23 starts for the Boston Red Sox last year.
Soccer
FIFA TARGETS 2030 WORLD CUP HOST VOTE IN SEPTEMBER NEXT YEAR >> The 2030 World Cup hosts are expected to be picked in September next year, FIFA said Tuesday.
FIFA's ruling council confirmed a timetable for bidding and a vote to be held in the third quarter of next year by around 200 member federations. FIFA has long targeted a decision in 2024 for the tournament that is currently scheduled to have 48 teams.
A separate election meeting will be held earlier in 2024 to pick a host for the 2027 Women's World Cup, soccer's governing body said.
The three 2026 hosts of the men's World Cup — the United States, Canada and Mexico — all had their expected automatic entries in the 48-team finals tournament confirmed Tuesday. It will be the first edition expanded from the 32-team tournament that was introduced in 1998.