More than two million US viewers watched the first-ever live stream of the Super Bowl over the Internet, the NBC television network said on Tuesday.

The live stream of the New York Giant’s 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots drew 2.1 million viewers, “making it the most-watched, single-game sports event ever online,” the network said in a statement.

The Super Bowl was streamed live on NBCSports.com and NFL.com, the website of the National Football League. It was also available to mobile or tablet users with an NFL Mobile application.

“The Super Bowl XLVI live stream exceeded our expectations in every way,” Kevin Monaghan, managing director for digital media at the NBC Sports Group, said in a statement.

“Increasingly, sports fans are looking to digital coverage as a complementary ‘second screen’ experience, and we delivered on that promise,” Monaghan said.

“The record traffic that grew throughout the event, as well as the record high engagement numbers, underscores the complementary aspect of digital as an enhancement to our exceptional television coverage,” he said.

Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s senior vice president for media strategy and development, said the live stream “was a tremendous success in its first year.

“We will continue to look for more ways to reach our fans,” Schroeder said.

Super Bowl 46 drew a record 111.3 million television viewers in the United States, edging out last year’s game, according to the Nielsen Company.

AF