The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are aiming for a three-peat at this Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX, however what are the chances that the massive recreation can even set an all-time viewers report for the third consecutive yr?
It’s actually doable that Tremendous Bowl LIX will beat last year’s 123.4M viewers, which not solely the report for Tremendous Bowl viewership however can also be at present the second most-watched TV program in history after the 1969 Apollo 11 moon touchdown.
However, final yr there have been a number of elements that pretty clearly set the stage for a record-setting viewers, from Taylor Swift‘s trek from Tokyo to Las Vegas for the affair to an already stellar yr of viewership for the NFL. This yr, not a lot.
NFL Scores Are Down, Besides For The Chiefs
With some notable exceptions, the NFL has seen a little bit of a downturn in total viewership this season. The 2024-25 common season averaged 17.5M viewers, down 2.2% from the 17.9M it generated the earlier season. Neither had been capable of beat the 2015-16 season’s report excessive of 18.1M, however final season was the league’s finest in a number of years.
Whereas a 2.2% decline is under no circumstances a dying knell, it’s value noting, particularly since three out of 5 of the NFL’s huge TV packages had been additionally down year-over-year. Fox, CBS and ESPN all noticed decrease audiences this season, whereas NBC eked out a win and Prime Video truly noticed a powerful 11% carry.
The NFC Championship, the place the Eagles solidified their spot within the Tremendous Bowl, was additionally down a whopping 21% year-over-year after scoring its finest viewers since 2012 final yr. Then again, the AFC Championship, which the Chiefs received but once more, drew almost 58M viewers, setting a brand new report for that title recreation.
Even Netflix’s flashy Christmas Day showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans, which featured a halftime efficiency from Beyoncé, couldn’t beat previous December 25 matchups. The truth is, viewership peaked whereas the Cowboy Carter artist was performing, somewhat than at any level throughout the recreation.
The NFL’s saving grace this yr was truly the Chiefs. Excluding the Thanksgiving Day video games, the crew performed in three of the highest 5 most-watched video games of the common season, with the Chiefs-Payments coming in at No. 1 with 31M viewers.
General, the Chiefs performed in six of the 15 most-watched video games of the common season — excess of every other crew — and 5 of these boasted greater than 25M views, per Nielsen knowledge. For additional context, the Eagles performed in two of the highest 15.
Whereas none of which means that the Tremendous Bowl received’t beat just about each different TV program within the final yr, because it routinely does, it actually doesn’t bode effectively for a record-breaker just like the previous two years.
Various Viewing On Tubi & Telemundo
Tubi is an enormous element of the curiosity round this yr’s viewers tally. The free, ad-supported streaming service, which Fox acquired in 2020, has been on a tear of late. It has steadily gained share of TV viewing, reaching 97M month-to-month distinctive viewers in 2024 and lately getting on tempo to ship $1 billion in annual income. On Sunday, it would have some authentic shoulder programming however not a separate simulcast with totally different announcers (as Nickelodeon did final yr).
Many streaming vets surprise in regards to the technical capability for dealing with a stay occasion of this magnitude. Stay programming is a uncommon commodity for Tubi, which often sees about 90% on-demand viewing and has by no means emphasised its FAST channels as a lot as different free streamers.
“It’s an enormous query mark to me,” says one high exec at a rival firm. “If Netflix know-how bought overwhelmed with the combat final fall, what is going to occur to them? And the stakes will not be low – that is the Tremendous Bowl.” (Fox and Tubi execs in latest weeks have pointed to the deep expertise of Fox Sports activities with dealing with stay video games, a lot of which have streamed throughout authenticated pay-TV apps.)
Previous Tremendous Bowls have been carried by subscription streamers, however this would be the first free, ad-supported outlet to have it. Based mostly on the year-by-year will increase in streaming on Tremendous Sunday, analysts count on as a lot as 15% of total viewing of the sport might come on Tubi, which might immediately rank the Chiefs-Eagles matchup among the many largest live-streamed occasions of all time.
The Spanish-language setup is a small however fascinating wrinkle within the total viewing image. In an uncommon transfer, Fox Deportes and Telemundo are sharing rights through a sublicense deal. The NFL wished to make sure that a broadcast community had the sport in Spanish, one supply informed Deadline, with cable web Fox Deportes prone to solely ship an viewers of some hundred thousand viewers. The Fox Deportes broadcast can even be out there on Tubi. By spreading the sport round for Spanish-speaking viewers, because it does in any language, the NFL hopes the whole quantity provides as much as one other report.
Final 12 months’s Extra time Thriller Is Robust To Beat
The Chiefs entered final yr’s Tremendous Bowl because the underdogs. It was nonetheless anticipated to be a reasonably well-matched recreation, although few anticipated such a nail-biting matchup that had spectators on the sting of their seats effectively into extra time. When the Chiefs did finally win, it marked the NFL’s first back-to-back Tremendous Bowl wins in 20 years.
That thrilling recreation might be robust to beat, particularly since that is one more rematch from latest years, after the Chiefs secured their first win of this potential three-peat in opposition to the Eagles in 2023. That yr, Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce went up in opposition to his brother, Eagles middle Jason Kelce, which made for an amazing storyline to drive curiosity to the sport.
There’s no heartwarming household story this yr, however there’s one other fascinating narrative taking maintain forward of Tremendous Bowl LIX.
The NFL has been scrambling in latest weeks to refute claims that the referees are favorably officiating the Chiefs so as to assist the crew win video games as half of a bigger conspiracy to spice up rankings. Usually, the NFL wouldn’t lend credence to what had beforehand simply amounted to on-line chatter. The noise has gotten fairly loud, although, drowning out nearly anything about this matchup.
Everybody from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to Fox Sports activities guidelines analyst Mike Pereira to The NFL Referees Affiliation has weighed in lately, insisting that the officiators haven’t and won’t favor the Chiefs throughout video games. The responses even have some questioning if this can negatively affect the Chiefs on Sunday, so the refs can show a degree about their neutrality.
Whatever the validity of the claims, there’s nothing like story to draw any many eyes as doable to an occasion just like the Tremendous Bowl.
Taylor Swift And Trump
As at all times, the Tremendous Bowl is certain to be stuffed with well-known faces, together with Taylor Swift, who is predicted to be cheering on her beau Travis Kelce once more this yr.
Throughout her first common season in attendance, it was fairly clear that the pop star had an affect on NFL viewership, particularly amongst younger ladies. Swift additionally needed to jet from Tokyo to Las Vegas immediately after an Eras Tour efficiency to make it to final yr’s huge recreation, and seemingly the entire world was holding tabs on her to know if she’d make it, which added to the attract round her attendance.
Whereas it’s doable that Swift was nonetheless answerable for a few of the eyes on the NFL this season, it seems that the curiosity surrounding her attendance has cooled off only a bit, because it grew to become a extra common incidence, and she or he’s already been noticed in New Orleans this weekend, eliminating any questions on whether or not she’ll make it to Tremendous Bowl LIX.
Nevertheless, President Donald Trump is about to make historical past Sunday as the primary sitting president to attend the Tremendous Bowl.
Not solely is that probably to attract some curiosity by itself, however contemplating the president’s earlier feedback about Swift after her endorsement of Kamala Harris final fall, the thought of those two in the identical stadium is already piquing curiosity on-line.
