The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are aiming for a three-peat at this Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl LIX, however what are the chances that the massive recreation may even set an all-time viewers document for the third consecutive 12 months?
It’s definitely attainable that Tremendous Bowl LIX will beat final 12 months’s 123.4M viewers, which not solely the document for Tremendous Bowl viewership however can also be at present the second most-watched TV program in historical past after the 1969 Apollo 11 moon touchdown.
However, final 12 months there have been a number of elements that fairly 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 12 months of viewership for the NFL. This 12 months, 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 have been capable of beat the 2015-16 season’s document excessive of 18.1M, however final season was the league’s greatest in a number of years.
Whereas a 2.2% decline is certainly not a loss of life knell, it’s price noting, particularly since three out of 5 of the NFL’s massive TV packages have 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 really noticed a powerful 11% elevate.
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 greatest viewers since 2012 final 12 months. However, the AFC Championship, which the Chiefs gained but once more, drew practically 58M viewers, setting a brand new document 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 earlier December 25 matchups. In reality, viewership peaked whereas the Cowboy Carter artist was performing, fairly than at any level in the course of the recreation.
The NFL’s saving grace this 12 months was really the Chiefs. Excluding the Thanksgiving Day video games, the workforce 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.
Total, the Chiefs performed in six of the 15 most-watched video games of the common season — excess of every other workforce — 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 because of this the Tremendous Bowl gained’t beat just about each different TV program within the final 12 months, because it routinely does, it definitely 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 12 months’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 just lately getting on tempo to ship $1 billion in annual income. On Sunday, it would have some unique shoulder programming however not a separate simulcast with completely different announcers (as Nickelodeon did final 12 months).
Many streaming vets marvel in regards to the technical capability for dealing with a reside occasion of this magnitude. Dwell programming is a uncommon commodity for Tubi, which normally 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 acquired overwhelmed with the struggle final fall, what is going to occur to them? And the stakes should not low – that is the Tremendous Bowl.” (Fox and Tubi execs in current weeks have pointed to the deep expertise of Fox Sports activities with dealing with reside 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 anticipate 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 needed to make sure that a broadcast community had the sport in Spanish, one supply advised Deadline, with cable web Fox Deportes more likely to solely ship an viewers of some hundred thousand viewers. The Fox Deportes broadcast may even be obtainable on Tubi. By spreading the sport round for Spanish-speaking viewers, because it does in any language, the NFL hopes the full quantity provides as much as one other document.
Final Yr’s Extra time Thriller Is Powerful To Beat
The Chiefs entered final 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl because the underdogs. It was nonetheless anticipated to be a fairly 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 will likely be robust to beat, particularly since that is yet one more rematch from current years, after the Chiefs secured their first win of this potential three-peat in opposition to the Eagles in 2023. That 12 months, Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce went up in opposition to his brother, Eagles heart Jason Kelce, which made for an ideal storyline to drive curiosity to the sport.
There’s no heartwarming household story this 12 months, however there may be one other fascinating narrative taking maintain forward of Tremendous Bowl LIX.
The NFL has been scrambling in current weeks to refute claims that the referees are favorably officiating the Chiefs as a way to assist the workforce win video games as half of a bigger conspiracy to spice up scores. 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 the rest 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 just 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 impression the Chiefs on Sunday, so the refs can show a degree about their neutrality.
Whatever the validity of the claims, there’s nothing like a very good story to draw any many eyes as attainable to an occasion just like the Tremendous Bowl.
Taylor Swift And Trump
As at all times, the Tremendous Bowl is certain to be filled with well-known faces, together with Taylor Swift, who is predicted to be cheering on her beau Travis Kelce once more this 12 months.
Throughout her first common season in attendance, it was fairly clear that the pop star had an impression on NFL viewership, particularly amongst younger ladies. Swift additionally needed to jet from Tokyo to Las Vegas straight after an Eras Tour efficiency to make it to final 12 months’s massive recreation, and seemingly the entire world was protecting tabs on her to know if she’d make it, which added to the attract round her attendance.
Whereas it’s attainable that Swift was nonetheless accountable for a number of the eyes on the NFL this season, it seems that the curiosity surrounding her attendance has cooled off only a bit, because it turned a extra common prevalence, 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.
Nonetheless, President Donald Trump is ready to make historical past Sunday as the primary sitting president to attend the Tremendous Bowl.
Not solely is that doubtless to attract some curiosity by itself, however contemplating the president’s earlier feedback about Swift after her endorsement of Kamala Harris final fall, the concept of those two in the identical stadium is already piquing curiosity on-line.
