Over 100 million viewers tune into the Super Bowl each year. They post thoughts on social media, share highlights with friends and family, and celebrate big plays in real time.

But while millions are locked in on their screens at home, many drivers are locked in on their phones behind the wheel.

How did one of the biggest cultural events of 2024 impact driving risk?

A new CMT analysis looks at screen interaction hour-by-hour from Super Bowl Sunday in 2024. When comparing it to the two Sundays before and after the Super Bowl, we find that distracted driving surged 5% during the game. CMT defines screen interaction as a driver tapping on their phone’s screen while traveling over 9 mph. 

Why did distraction increase during the game? People may have shared highlights with someone while they were driving. A driver may have checked the score. Watched a new viral ad. Checked out the latest gossip on Travis and Taylor. Some may even have watched the game live while driving — after all, 7.6% of Americans say they used ESPN while driving in the past month.

This blitz of distractions, news articles, notifications, and texts, can cause phone screen interaction to rise.

The rest of Super Bowl Sunday last year, however, looked like a typical Sunday for distracted driving. On a regular Sunday surrounding game day, drivers spent an average of 2 minutes and 13 seconds per hour distracted. The same was true for Super Bowl Sunday, except during the game. In fact, up until 5:00 p.m., Super Bowl Sunday saw the exact same amount of distracted driving as other Sundays.  During the game, drivers used their phones for 2 minutes and 37 seconds per hour.

The increase in distraction matched what was happening in the game. On Super Bowl Sunday 2024, distracted driving started increasing at 6:00 p.m. and remained high through 11:00 p.m.

Last year, kickoff was at 6:30 p.m., with the coin toss a few minutes before. From 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., distraction increased by 2%. From there, it grew until 7:00 p.m. when it peaked at 2 minutes and 42 seconds. It hovered at 2 minutes and 42 seconds until 9:00 p.m. when it began to fall. By 11:00 p.m., distraction rates were back to their Sunday averages, just as the game wrapped up.

Be the MVP

This year, as millions of viewers nationwide and across the world watch the Chiefs and Eagles battle — Will the Chiefs three-peat? Will the Eagles bring the Lombardi trophy home for Philadelphia? — it’s important to remember that roads will be riskier, and that you can be the MVP by focusing on the road, not the game.