Overview

• YouTube said a technical issue omitted a subset of legitimate views, prompting an upward revision of the game’s average‑minute audience to 19.7 million globally.
• The company reported 18.5 million AMA in the United States, revalidated with Nielsen, and about 1.2 million internationally based on YouTube’s own data.
• Researchers at Fox Sports and ESPN criticized the measurement approach, saying Nielsen’s custom method and use of first‑party streamer data reduce transparency and comparability with linear TV metrics.
• Industry coverage noted the unusual nature of a revision driven by a broadcaster‑identified error, intensifying concerns about third‑party ratings that ingest platform‑supplied data.
• Even after the increase, the audience remains below the top streaming records set by Netflix’s NFL presentations that exceeded 24 million.