Santa Cruz’s Peter Mel Stuns with ‘Most Watched’ Super Bowl Surf Clip (Video)

Despite the controversy surrounding Bad Bunny’s halftime show, or the somewhat boring, defense-heavy performance on the field, Super Bowl LX broke records.

Per the NFL, “NBC Sports' presentation of Super Bowl LX set an all-time media record as 137.8 million viewers watched in the second quarter as the Seattle Seahawks led 6-0 over the New England Patriots – marking the highest peak viewership in U.S. TV history.”

And during that presentation, there was a short clip just before Bad Bunny took the field, featuring a surfer riding waves about an hour drive west of Santa Clara, CA – where the game was played – in Santa Cruz. Who was it? None other than Peter Mel.

Reposting the clip after the big game, Pete wrote:

“Here’s the clip from yesterday’s Super Bowl. Wanted them to shout out our family’s surf shop @freelinesurf. But couldn’t convince the @nbc producers. Oh well, a few people see what an old surf dog can do at Steamer Lane.”

More than a few people…

Is this, perhaps, the most people ever to watch surfing at the same time? By comparison, the World Surf League reported that the 2023 Finals Day, held at Lower Trestles, garnered “10.7 million video views on a single day…the most-watched day in professional surfing history.” A regular season NFL game averaged 18.7 million viewers in 2025/26.

So, yeah, most likely the most-watched single surf clip of all time. And while the clip was fine, showcasing Peter “The Condor” Mel surfing his home spot of Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, CA, the wave was small. Not the best representation of Pete’s skillset.

Might we suggest something like:

Anyway, what’d you think of the halftime show?