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

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It’s often said that records are meant to be broken, and that’s certainly true when it comes to Super Bowl TV ratings.

The NFL championship game has broken viewership records for the past three years, with last year’s game – a 40-22 win for the Philadelphia Eagles over the Kansas City Chiefs – averaging 127.7 million viewers on Fox.

The 2024 and 2025 games attracted more viewers thanks to the excitement surrounding the relationship between Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and singer Taylor Swift, which drew in people who don’t usually follow football.

For the first time in three years, the Kansas City Chiefs won’t be competing in the Super Bowl. This Sunday, NBC will broadcast the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots – a surprising matchup, as most experts predicted a different pairing this year.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t set another ratings record.

Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, thinks so. He points to the recent increase in NFL ratings, which he attributes to Nielsen now including viewing data from 45 million homes with set-top boxes and smart TVs in their audience measurements.

“It’s definitely showing up and bumping up ratings throughout the year for the NFL,” Berke said.

Hollywood Inc.

ESPN is taking over the NFL Red Zone and NFL Network channels. As part of the agreement, the NFL will receive a share of ownership in ESPN.

As a huge NFL fan, I was really interested to see the latest numbers, and it looks like the new way Nielsen is measuring viewership is making a big difference! Apparently, prime time NFL game ratings are up by around 7-9% thanks to this new measurement system. That’s awesome news for the league and means even more people are tuning in!

Recent updates to how Nielsen measures viewership have led to higher Super Bowl ratings. Adding viewers who watch outside their homes in 2021 meant the Super Bowl quickly surpassed the 100 million viewer mark, which used to be a challenging goal.

We’re likely to see high viewership numbers this year, especially considering the last time the Patriots and Seahawks played in 2015. That game on NBC drew a record 114.4 million viewers. Fans tuning in on Sunday can probably expect to see highlights of Malcolm Butler’s game-winning interception that helped the Patriots, led by Tom Brady, secure the victory.

NBC doesn’t rely on a huge viewership to make the Super Bowl profitable. Strong demand for TV commercials allowed the network to sell all the ad slots for an average of $8 million each, with some of the most popular spots costing as much as $10 million.

NBC also sold advertising slots exclusively for its Peacock streaming service. These spots cost around $3 million each, a considerable increase over the $2 million Fox charged for ads during last year’s game on Tubi.

NBC leveraged its broadcast of Super Bowl LVI to boost advertising revenue for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan, starting this Friday and continuing through February 22nd – all ad space is already sold. With the NBA All-Star Game also taking place on February 14th at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanaugh recently called February “the most important month ever for live sports.”

NBC’s coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl brought in $1.5 billion for Comcast, and the company anticipates even higher earnings this year. While Comcast hasn’t released overall revenue figures, they predict a record-breaking amount of money from advertising during the Super Bowl.

According to Mark Marshall, who leads advertising sales and partnerships at NBCUniversal, a significant majority – 70% – of the advertisers who purchased commercials for the Super Bowl are also advertising during the Olympics.

Years ago, Super Bowl commercials were a big surprise, unveiled only during the game. Now, according to Marshall, companies usually give viewers a sneak peek beforehand, releasing teasers and even full commercials online as part of a broader marketing strategy.

This year, NBCU was able to offer the Olympics to help marketers connect with more consumers.

Marshall explained they advised advertisers who were already investing a significant amount—eight or more figures—in commercial production to also focus on maximizing its visibility.

Let’s talk Super Bowl ads! As usual, the tech giants are leading the charge this year, spending big to get their messages out there. We’re going to see some fresh faces too – companies like Anthropic and Genspark are making their Super Bowl ad debut, which is exciting. And of course, the usual suspects are back: Google, Meta, Wix, and Amazon will be there, with Amazon teasing a new spot for Alexa. It’s shaping up to be a tech-heavy game!

Alongside the typical snacks and drinks advertised during breaks, viewers can expect to see more commercials from pharmaceutical companies this year. According to Marshall, these companies are increasing their advertising during NFL games. Instead of focusing on specific products and potential side effects, these Super Bowl ads will emphasize overall wellness.

According to Marshall, NBCUniversal doesn’t anticipate the alternative halftime show—organized by Turning Point USA—will affect their ratings. The concert, featuring Kid Rock alongside country artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett, will be available to stream on platforms like YouTube, X, and Rumble, as well as several channels with a conservative viewpoint.

A concert organized by a conservative group, originally founded by the late Charlie Kirk and now led by his wife Erika, is being held because many conservatives were upset with the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny – a popular singer who performs mostly in Spanish – for the Super Bowl halftime show. Former President Trump also criticized the decision and won’t be attending the game.

Honestly, the league isn’t backing down at all, despite the criticism. They really want to grow their audience worldwide, and having the world’s most-streamed artist perform at their biggest event is a huge part of that plan. I fully support that vision!

The most successful attempt to compete with the Super Bowl halftime show happened in 1992. The relatively new Fox network aired a live episode of its comedy series, “In Living Color,” at the same time as the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show on CBS, which featured figure skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano.

When TV ratings started to fall, the NFL decided to book Michael Jackson for the 1993 halftime show. The game’s ratings immediately improved, and the league has featured popular musical artists at halftime ever since.

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2026-02-06 14:01