Can the Super Bowl set a ratings record again without the Chiefs (or Taylor Swift)?

The adage that records are made to beryllium breached decidedly applies to the TV ratings for the Super Bowl.

For 3 consecutive years, the crippled deciding the champion for the NFL play has acceptable caller viewing records, including past year’s Philadelphia Eagles crushing triumph implicit the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 that scored an mean assemblage of 127.7 cardinal viewers connected Fox.

Both the 2024 and 2025 games had the payment of the popular civilization sizzle generated by Chiefs choky extremity Travis Kelce’s romance with popular superstar Taylor Swift, bringing successful much casual fans.

This season, the Chiefs won’t beryllium successful the crippled for the archetypal clip successful 3 years arsenic NBC volition person the Seattle Seahawks facing disconnected Sunday against the New England Patriots successful Super Bowl LX, not the match-up experts predicted for this year.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t acceptable different ratings record.

Kansas City choky extremity Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift observe the Chiefs’ triumph implicit the Buffalo Bills successful the AFC Championship connected Jan. 26, 2025, successful Kansas City, Mo.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

“I judge it can,” said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, noting the assistance the NFL ratings person seen this play arsenic viewing accusation from set-top devices and net connected televisions successful 45 cardinal households are present included successful Nielsen’s assemblage measurement.

“It’s decidedly showing up and bumping up ratings passim the twelvemonth for the NFL,” Berke said.

A caller study from the Video Advertising Bureau recovered that the caller measurement from Nielsen has boosted ratings for premier clip NFL games successful the mid-to-high azygous digit percentages.

Other changes to Nielsen’s measurement successful caller years person fixed the Super Bowl a boost. While surpassing 100 cardinal was erstwhile a tenable goal, the numbers started climbing supra that threshold since out-of-home viewing was added successful 2021.

History is connected the broadside of a robust assemblage fig this year. The past clip the Patriots faced the Seahawks successful 2015, the NBC telecast acceptable a viewership grounds astatine the clip of 114.4 million. Fans watching Sunday tin expect to spot clips of Malcolm Butler’s interception astatine the extremity enactment that helped springiness Tom Brady’s Patriots the triumph that year.

But NBC doesn’t request a grounds assemblage fig for the Super Bowl to beryllium a fiscal success. A robust TV advertizing marketplace helped the web merchantability retired the crippled astatine a grounds mean of $8 cardinal per 30-second spot, with immoderate going for $10 million.

NBC has besides sold spots that volition aerial lone connected its Peacock streaming platform. The web pulled successful the scope of $3 cardinal a spot, importantly supra the $2 cardinal Fox took successful for ads past twelvemonth erstwhile the crippled was streamed connected its Tubi service.

This twelvemonth NBC was capable to usage Super Bowl LX to thrust advertisement income for its sum of the Winter Olympic Games successful Milan that statesman Friday and tally done Feb. 22, (which is besides sold out). The web besides has the NBA All-Star Game astatine the Intuit Dome successful Inglewood connected Feb. 14, which is wherefore Mike Cavanaugh, co-chief enforcement of NBCU genitor Comcast, precocious described February arsenic “the astir consequential period successful unrecorded sports history.”

In 2022, NBC’s operation of some the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, accounted for $1.5 cardinal successful gross according to Comcast’s net report, a fig the institution volition apt surpass this year. The institution isn’t commenting connected gross but has said it expects to acceptable a grounds for Super Bowl advertisement revenue.

Mark Marshall, president of planetary advertizing income and partnerships for NBCUniversal, said 70% of the companies successful the Super Bowl are besides moving commercials successful the Olympics.

In erstwhile decades, a Super Bowl commercialized was an lawsuit successful itself with the uncover happening connected the telecast. But Marshall noted that, arsenic portion of a larger selling effort, advertizing campaigns are present introduced with teasers up of the telecast and galore get a afloat preview online.

This year, NBCU was capable to connection the Olympics to assistance marketers link with much consumers.

“We told advertisers ‘you’re going to walk 8 figures (on producing a commercial) — widen the scope of that,” Marshall said.

Technology companies marque up the largest stock of advertisers. Several AI companies, including Anthropic and Genspark, volition beryllium first-time Super Bowl advertisement buyers. Viewers volition besides spot returning entries from Google, Meta, Wix and Amazon, which volition aerial a spot for its Alexa device.

While determination are the accustomed array of snack nutrient and brushed portion companies that volition appearin the commercialized breaks, viewers volition besides spot a spurt successful pharmaceutical ads. Marshall said the class has accrued its beingness connected NFL games. The Super Bowl spots volition absorption connected a connection of “wellness,” alternatively than consecutive up merchandise spots with disclaimers listing unpleasant cause broadside effects.

Marshall said NBCU does not expect the announced alternate halftime amusement presented by Turning Point USA to person an interaction connected the ratings. A performance featuring Kid Rock and lesser known state artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett, volition watercourse connected YouTube, X, Rumble and respective right-wing TV channels.

The performance promoted by the right-wing radical founded by the precocious Charlie Kirk and present tally by his widow Erika is successful effect to conservatives outraged implicit the NFL’s enactment of Grammy-winning euphony superstar Bad Bunny, who sings chiefly successful Spanish, arsenic the halftime act. (President Trump called the determination “terrible” and is skipping the game.)

But the league has not wavered for a infinitesimal amid the blowback, arsenic it seeks to grow its planetary scope by having the astir streamed creator successful the satellite connected the signifier of its marquee event.

The lone effectual counter-programming gimmick against the Super Bowl halftime amusement came successful 1992. Fox, inactive an upstart network, ran a unrecorded variation of its sketch drama amusement “In Living Color” against the halftime of the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXVI, which featured crystal skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano.

The pronounced dip successful viewership prompted the NFL to motion Michael Jackson arsenic the halftime enactment successful 1993. The crippled saw a important ratings boost and the league has booked modern euphony acts for the crippled ever since.