Probably more alike to when they used to claim the SuperBowl is watched by a billion people, when they actually mean it was broadcast to a (potential) billion. Actual viewing numbers worldwide are maybe 200 million, with US viewing numbers last year a new record at 111.3 million. Not unlike the announcer always claims at the Dutch Open, when he is telling the finals audience millions of viewers in Asia are watching right now but when you come on this board it is actually broadcast nowhere at all, except at best Astro sports in Malaysia

[and the betting sites I suppose].
From a 2007 article "Super bull: Super Bowl myths debunked"

:
Myth No. 6: How many couch potatoes?
A global TV audience of 1 billion people typically tunes in to watch the game.
Fact or fiction: Each year, this one gets tossed around in the media as if that stat was as black and white as the referee’s shirt.
That may be due to NFL statements about potential global viewers. NFL.com says Super Bowl XLI will be televised in 232 countries and “available to an estimated worldwide audience of 750 million to 1 billion people.”
But the NFL doesn’t know how many people outside the United States actually watch the game, nor has the league ever “provided the media a figure of total worldwide viewership,” said Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman.
“We do know U.S. viewership because Nielsen tells us,” McCarthy added.
Nielsen cannot pinpoint how many people watch the game beyond American borders because “we are only able to track national numbers,” said Brandi Preston, a spokeswoman for Nielsen Media Research.
The closest anyone has come to gauging global Super Bowl ratings is a tracking system devised by the New York-based media research firm Initiative, which collects data from 54 of the major TV markets from around the world. According to Initiative’s most recent measurement, Super Bowl XL posted an average audience of 98 million, with 151 million tuning in at some point.
If you’re number-crunching, that’s 849 million short of a billion.
One 2006 sporting event did come close to the 1 billion mark: The World Cup final between Italy and France drew an average audience of 260 million, and 603 million people saw at least part of the game.
Answer: Fiction
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16877331/ns/business-us_business/t/super-bull/#.UNRjROlVDJ0