Super Bowl 2024: Which Streaming Service Had the Worst Delay? (For 2 Straight Years)

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former editor of 4 TV magazines. Author of TV Dot Com.

TV Answer Man, I streamed the Super Bowl on Fubo and the game was like two minutes behind the real action. I kept getting texts from friends who told me what happened before I could even see it! What the actual f—-! — Mark, Norfolk, Virginia. 

Mark, you’re not alone. Many viewers who streamed Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers noticed that the real time action was far ahead of the streams on live streaming services such as YouTube TV, FuboTV and Hulu Live. Phenix, a company which sells technology designed to shorten streaming delays, noticed the same thing. Of course, considering the company’s mission, it’s not surprising it would notice it and issue a press statement to highlight it. But that said, Phenix’s Sunday survey of Super Bowl streamers found that:

Fubo’s stream was 86.75 seconds behind the real time action;
Hulu Live’s was 70.16 second behind;
ViX was 63,46 seconds behind;
NFL Plus was 61.45 seconds behind;
DIRECTV Stream was 60.62 seconds behind;
YouTube TV was 55.54 seconds behind;
Paramount Plus was 42.73 seconds behind.

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This means that, according to Phenix, Fubo had the worst Super Bowl streaming delay for two straight years. Here were last year’s results:

FuboTV’s stream was 76.73 seconds behind the real time action;
Hulu Live was 69.8 seconds behind;
NFL Plus was 60.70 seconds behind;
DIRECTV Stream was 57.13 seconds behind;
And YouTube TV was 54.14 seconds behind.

(Apparently, Phenix did not include Sling TV in the analysis for either year. Paramount Plus did not stream the Super Bowl last year because it was on Fox., The Fox apps last year were only 23.76 second behind.)

Live streaming delays have become almost an accepted element these days. Companies need more time to transmit a live stream due to greater technical complexity and other issues. Fox last year was able to stream the game with a smaller delay in part because it received the signal directly from the network’s command center. However, the live streaming services carry the local affiliate signal which takes longer to process.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.