Super Bowl LX draws nearly 125M viewers, down 2% from 2025
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New England Patriots' Craig Woodson rushes Seattle Seahawks' Kenneth Walker III during Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Feb. 8, 2026. Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty Images
NBCUniversal's broadcast of Super Bowl LX drew 124.9 million viewers, a 2.2% drop from last year's matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, according to viewership data from Nielsen.
Why it matters: It marks the first time since 2021 that ratings for the big game, which is always the most-watched television show of the year, have dropped.
- The unexpected matchup saw the Seattle Seahawks avenge their 2015 loss to the New England Patriots, but resulted in an uneventful and low-scoring game until the second half.
By the numbers: The game — which was available on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+ — marks the second-most watched Super Bowl and TV event in U.S. history, behind last year's game.
- It is also the most-watched show in NBCUniversal's 100-year history.
- The matchup averaged 3.3 million viewers on NBCU's Telemundo, representing the most-watched Super Bowl in U.S. Spanish-language history, NBC said in a statement.
- Telemundo's audience peaked during the halftime show, with an average of 4.8 million viewers.
Zoom in: Bad Bunny delivered a buzzy halftime show, featuring surprise performances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
- NBCU said the halftime performance averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15-8:30pm ET in the United States.
- By comparison, that's down from an average of 133.5 million that watched Kendrick Lamar's halftime performance last year.
- NBC said full global viewership of the halftime event will be available next week.
Zoom out: The Super Bowl is one of the few live television events that can still draw a massive audience, making it a lucrative opportunity for networks and advertisers.
- X said Apple Music was the most talked about brand on the platform during the Super Bowl and received some of the most positive sentiment.
The big picture: Super Bowl LX is one part of NBCUniversal's "Legendary February," a historic month where the company also is broadcasting the Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game.
- The 17-day stretch tests NBCUniversal's ability to leverage its traditional broadcast channels and streaming platform Peacock to draw massive millions audiences.
- Live events remain one of the most valuable assets in media. Super Bowl ads sold at a record price of more than $10 million for 30 seconds.
The bottom line: Neither the Patriots nor Seahawks were widely expected to make it to the Super Bowl, but the game didn't result in the back-and-forth drama some were anticipating.
