Super Bowl XLIX scored the highest overnight rating in history on Sunday night.

NBC's coverage of New England's 28-24 win over Seattle delivered a 49.7 rating and a 72 share, according to Nielsen data.

The number still to beat:  the U.S. TV record-audience of 112.3 million viewers (live + same-day) for last year's Super Bowl in which Seattle demolished Denver 43-8.

The overnight for Super Bowl XLIX was up 4% from last year's 47.6/70 for Seahawks-Broncos and up 3% from the prior record  -- the 48.1/71 for Baltimore-San Francisco in  SB XLVII.

The mark not only set a Super Bowl record, but equaled the tally CBS recorded with its coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympics -- following the controversy of rival figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan -- as the top overnight rating for a sporting event.

NBC’s Super Bowl XLIX overnight topped a 50 in each half hour from 8 p.m. (ET), peaking at a 52.9/73 in the 10 p.m. quarter hour, when the Patriots dethroned the Seahawks on Malcolm Butler's end zone interception (pictured) with 20 seconds remaining.

The halftime show -- an elaborage staging led by Katy Perry, and featuring Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, garnered a 50.8 overnight rating, up 5% ahead from ast year’s halftime festivities with Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The post-Super Bowl episode of The Blacklist drew a 13.5 rating. That was up 9% over. last year's lead-out spot -- Fox's New Girl -- and represented the top post-Super Bowl metered market measure since the last time NBC aired the Big Game. The delivery was also the best overnight for a primetime entertainment telecast since last year's Oscars.