There’s no denying the Super Bowl final is one of the biggest sporting events of the year, but it’s obviously nothing compared to a Sunderland match.
The Philadelphia Eagles stormed to a 40-22 victory over reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs last night as Super Bowl LIX came to a thrilling conclusion.
It’s a huge event, with massive audiences tuning in across the world to see two titans of the NFL go head-to-head, but all it’s done for us is prove that football is the true winner, and we have Sunderland to thank for that.
Sunderland fans have been criticised in the past for their match-going habits, but you cannot accuse them of not showing up when their team needs them, that’s for sure.
Sunderland had more fans at the Checkatrade Trophy final than Super Bowl LIX
Official figures show that 65,719 fans turned up to the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday to watch the Eagles and the Chiefs play out the Super Bowl final. Pretty impressive numbers, by all means, but nothing compared to Sunderland’s attendance for the Checkatrade Trophy final in 2019.
No, we’re really not joking. The game between Sunderland and Portsmouth at Wembley Stadium brought in a phenomenal 85,021 fans.
Sadly, Sunderland’s trophy cabinet didn’t get a new addition on that day, with Portsmouth winning the game on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
That crowd was the record for the EFL Trophy, surpassing the 80,841 that attended the final between Wolves and Burnley back in 1988. It was also the second-highest crowd of any football match across Europe in that weekend, which is truly incredible considering we’re talking about a domestic cup that only involves teams in England’s third tier and below.
Granted, the Super Bowl racked up over 123m viewers last year as per Deadline, so the NFL perhaps has the last laugh, but in terms of in-person attendance at sporting events, football wins all day long.
Sunderland’s following deserves Premier League football
Sunderland currently boast the highest average attendance in the Championship this season, by quite some distance, and it’s just further proof of the fact this football club is in the wrong division.
The Stadium of Light is a brilliant football stadium — the second-biggest in the league — and it’s been filled with an average of 38,546 fans across this season.
With the team now finally showing it can live up to that immense potential, it is surely just a matter of time before the Black Cats return to the top flight where they belong.
Until then, they’ll always have that Checkatrade Trophy record, and the Super Bowl will have to continue to live in the shadow of the mighty Sunderland AFC.