With the burgeoning trend of people ditching cable in favor of Netflix, fewer people likely had the opportunity to watch the Super Bowl on their own big screens this year. But that didn't seem to pose a problem because for the first year, NBC streamed the big game live over the internet.

According to the New York Times, NBC reported that more than 2.1 million people (legally) streamed Super Bowl XLVI over the internet. The television network used Omniture and mDialog to collect their statistics.

The Times article reported that "the live stream represented the most-watched single-game sports event ever online."

The online stream, which I watched instead of hitting the power button on the remote control, offered a chat box, multiple camera angles and the ability to pause the game and watch multiple commercials a row.

Unless you have a 72 inch laptop, the game won't be larger than life in your living room, but will the perks of watching the game online trump seeing an almost-life size Tom Brady on screen? 

I think that as years go by (and as television fills up with more mind-numbing reality shows and even more viewers ditch cable in favor of Netlifx) more people will view the big game on the internet.

I can see a trend starting here and a good one at that. If internet viewing is more successful, perhaps NBC will add even more widgets to the online stream. Maybe a eventually there will be a running Storify of everything everyone is saying about the teams in the game - but that might be over the top. (It's the journalist in me.)

For next year's Super Bowl, if NBC is gracious enough to stream the game online again, I recommend that viewing venue. It provides more of an in-depth look at the game, more excitement and increased community interaction (not just with the dude next to you yelling "WHOOOOO!"). The only downfall is the laptop size. Tom Brady will not appear life-size on your screen.