The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are aiming for a three-peat at this Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl LIX, however what are the chances that the large recreation can even set an all-time viewers file 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 file for Tremendous Bowl viewership however can 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 Rankings 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 in a position to beat the 2015-16 season’s file excessive of 18.1M, however final season was the league’s finest in a number of years.
Whereas a 2.2% decline is certainly not a dying 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 formidable 11% raise.
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 12 months. Then again, the AFC Championship, which the Chiefs received but once more, drew practically 58M viewers, setting a brand new file 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. The truth is, viewership peaked whereas the Cowboy Carter artist was performing, reasonably than at any level throughout the recreation.
The NFL’s saving grace this 12 months was really the Chiefs. Excluding the Thanksgiving Day video games, the group 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 some other group — and 5 of these boasted greater than 25M views, per Nielsen information. 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 12 months, because it routinely does, it definitely doesn’t bode nicely for a record-breaker just like the previous two years.
Different Viewing On Tubi & Telemundo
Tubi is a giant part 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 is going to have some unique shoulder programming however not a separate simulcast with totally different announcers (as Nickelodeon did final 12 months).
Many streaming vets marvel concerning 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 a giant query mark to me,” says one prime exec at a rival firm. “If Netflix know-how acquired overwhelmed with the combat 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, lots 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. Primarily based 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 attention-grabbing 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 advised Deadline, with cable internet Fox Deportes more likely 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 full quantity provides as much as one other file.
Final 12 months’s Time beyond regulation Thriller Is Powerful To Beat
The Chiefs entered final 12 months’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 nicely into time beyond regulation. When the Chiefs did finally win, it marked the NFL’s first back-to-back Tremendous Bowl wins in 20 years.
That thrilling recreation can 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 towards the Eagles in 2023. That 12 months, Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce went up towards his brother, Eagles heart Jason Kelce, which made for an amazing storyline to drive curiosity to the sport.
There’s no heartwarming household story this 12 months, however there’s one other attention-grabbing 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 with a purpose to assist the group 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 virtually 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 influence 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 great story to draw any many eyes as attainable to an occasion just like the Tremendous Bowl.
Taylor Swift And Trump
As all the time, the Tremendous Bowl is bound to be filled with well-known faces, together with Taylor Swift, who is anticipated 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 influence on NFL viewership, particularly amongst younger girls. 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 conserving 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 liable 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 incidence, and he or she’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 about 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 thought of those two in the identical stadium is already piquing curiosity on-line.
