Defense wins championships and Super Bowl LX showed it can get ratings too.
NBC’s Sunday telecast of the Seattle Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the New England Patriots averaged 124.9 million viewers according to Nielsen data, falling short of the record of 127.7 million set last year on Fox.
Seattle’s smothering defense preventing New England from ever getting on track in the game at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., was more appreciated by serious football fans than casual watchers. But the controversy surrounding the event with halftime performer Bad Bunny likely stoked additional interest.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers, higher than the game overall. The performance aired after the second quarter, when the game was still close and hit a peak of 137.8 million viewers.
The NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny riled up right-wing commentators who objected to having an artist singing only in Spanish performing at the premier U.S. sporting event of the year. Bad Bunny has also been outspoken over the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics in removing undocumented immigrants. He skipped the mainland U.S. on his last tour, citing fears that his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Right-wing activist group Turning Point USA presented an alternative halftime show on YouTube, which topped 6 million viewers, a surprisingly high number considering details of the program were not revealed until days before game day. A concert featuring Kid Rock and several lesser-known country artists did not get a strong critical reception on social media.
But the audience size showed that a hot musical act could attract a significant chunk of the audience already gathered to watch the game.
“More bands should go head to head with the halftime show and not in a political way,” said one rival network executive not authorized to comment publicly. “It would be a good stunt for HBO Max or some other company that’s not an NFL rights holder.”
Nielsen’s improvement to its measurement of viewing through internet connections and set-top boxes — which boosted NFL TV ratings throughout the season, also likely helped the Super Bowl LX number. The additional data was incorporated into TV ratings starting in September.
Another 3.3 million watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo. NBC did not release data for viewing on its Peacock, saying only that it was the biggest day ever for the streaming platform.
NBC sold out the commercial time for the game at an average price of $8 million for a 30-second spot, with some going for $10 million. USA Today’s annual “Ad Meter” panel chose Budweiser’s “American Icons” as its favorite commercial on the telecast.
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