Most did what they told us they would when it came to watching the Super Bowl
According to the Ipsos Consumer Tracker, a majority of Americans watched Super Bowl LIX — but only a few watched with friends or at a bar or restauraunt.
The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.
Why we asked: Before the big game, people told us what they were planning. We thought we’d check in and see what they actually did.
What we found: For the most part, people did exactly what they had planned when it came to watching the Super Bowl. First off, roughly three in four Americans watched in some fashion, which tracks with the record ratings reported by the NFL and Ipsos data from previous years. Super Bowl parties and gatherings at bars, which are kind of the quintessential image of Super Bowl revelry, aren’t how most of us watch the game. Only 15% party with friends, and just 3% said they planned to or actually went out to a bar or restaurant to watch. That tracks with the cover story of the latest Atlantic about our “anti-social” century. The article cites that “Between that year and the end of the 20th century, in-person socializing slowly declined. From 2003 to 2023, it plunged by more than 20 percent, according to the American Time Use Survey, an annual study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
And we’ve talked here about habits and rituals: Planning is important, too. Voter turnout organizations focus on getting people to make a specific plan to vote – where is your polling place, when will you go, how will you get there, etc. So, it’s not too surprising that the number who said they hadn’t made a plan (11%) was equal to the rise in people who watched at home from those that already planned to do so in the previous wave.
That adds up to almost half of Americans and three-quarters of those who watched doing so at home. Which is an interesting take on the whole idea of the Super Bowl as America’s last big moment of shared experience. Because the only way we’re sharing it is later at the workplace, or on social media and group texts and in reading 100 think pieces about whether Kendrick Lamar’s half time show was a massive political statement or just the most brutal targeted hit piece ever staged. I mean, bringing out Drake’s ex (Serena Williams) to dance to diss-track “Not Like Us,” … that was just cold, man. That was an even more complete obliteration than we saw on the field.
More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:
The only ID that matters is Party ID
Are people feeling tariff price increases already?
'Buying American' remains popular, but Democratic support wavers
The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about