The 2024 Super Bowl back in February felt different to any that have gone before. And in many ways, it was different. Why? In terms of viewership alone, it was the second most watched telecast in American history, with only the 1969 moon landing beating its impressive 123.7 million viewership pull. Super Bowl LVIII also saw the event’s largest ever U.K. viewership with NFL.com reporting ‘3.4 million unique viewers’ tuned in across Sky Sports and ITV channels during the broadcast. 

More women than ever tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22, with female viewership seeing a nine percent overall increase according to figures run by the Daily Mail – perhaps a symptom of the so-called ‘Taylor Swift Effect’ as many were keen to catch a glimpse of the American superstar supporting her boyfriend, Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, from the stands. U.K. viewership followed this trend, with a large increase in female audiences – three-quarters of under 35s tuned into the Super Bowl during its broadcast, compared with just ‘53 percent’ in 2023. 

To consider the ‘Taylor Swift Effect’ for a moment, it is true to say that some in the media have been unhappy with the intense coverage the presence of Swift at Chiefs’ games has generated, even though she accounted for just 54 seconds of the four-hour long broadcast. Her impact, however, on encouraging more women to watch NFL games and support teams is undeniable. Even just her first appearance at a Chiefs game in September 2023 sent sales of Kelce’s jersey skyrocketing with a four hundred percent increase in the number purchased. Personally, as someone unfamiliar with the sport outside of attending Xplosion, I was far more invested in the outcome of the game than I had been in previous years. Cetaphil even utilised Swift’s impact during their Super Bowl advertisement, portraying a father and daughter bonding over the sport and it helping to mend their relationship. 

Outside of the draw of Swift and intrigue as to her relationship with Kelce, why else did this year’s event feel bigger than ever before? The BBC considers Usher’s halftime performance a big draw, while also noting that the Chiefs were defending their title and cited interest over whether they would successfully do so as key in engaging more viewers. Social media has also played a large role in the increased interest surrounding this year’s event. Across all major platforms – X, Instagram, Tiktok etc – news, videos and analysis of the game trended in the days leading up to and after the main event. NFL UK ‘recorded its biggest Super Bowl week to date’ with social media engagements increasing 130% from 2023.  

While the Super Bowl’s impact – some may say rightfully – does not even touch the global interest or excitement as events such as the FIFA World Cup Final, does the evidently large increase in interest for this year’s event reflect a new lease of life for the NFL with more and more tuning in around the world to see the climax of its season? Or was it simply the result of a set of unique circumstances that sparked together to generate unprecedented attention to this year’s event? Only time will tell whether the success of Super Bowl LIX in February 2025 will match that of this year. But before then it will be interesting to see how or if the NFL manages to profit from its success, particularly with the problem of keeping international audiences engaged. 

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