The Super Bowl is the most watched media event each year. Horizon Futures recaps and unpacks Super Bowl LX, which aired 2/8/26, evaluating who watched and how, and the cultural conversation sparked by the game, the ads and especially Bad Bunny’s halftime show. While the game itself saw the Seattle Seahawks take home the Lombardi Trophy easily in a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots, the engagement and viewership numbers reveal powerful insights.

Key Findings:

• Super Bowl LX, the lynchpin of NBCU’s “Legendary February,” delivering the 2nd highest Super Bowl audience ever: 125 million viewers.
• The Apple Music Halftime Show, starring Bad Bunny, became the 2nd most-watched halftime show in Super Bowl history – halftime viewership outperformed the total game by an average of 3.3MM viewers
• While overall viewership declined 3.4% vs. 2025, there were significant double-digit increases among diverse audiences.
• Streaming and Spanish-language broadcasts also captured a larger share of the viewership compared to last year.
• Spanish language social conversation tripled vs. 2025.
• Following the announcement of Bad Bunny as the halftime performer, pre-game social engagement was high – up 12% year-over-year.
• The event generated nearly 9 million social media conversations for brands to engage with, and advertisers earned over 1.2 million mentions.
• Like the Patriots, the “Ad Bowl” could have brought more game. Negative social sentiment increased slightly year-over-year, and few brands took advantage of the cultural opportunity to align to one of the most talked-about halftime shows ever.

Key Takeaways for brands:

The Super Bowl is much more than one game – it’s a global cultural event and also a living ecosystem with multiple touchpoints ripe for brand engagement:

• Social conversation begins well before the game – an opportunity for early alignment whether one has a spot in the game or not.
• Monitor early buzz and narratives to authentically join the conversation.
• Viewership is diversifying across platforms and networks – invest in all streaming and linear platforms with powerful and tailored creative to ensure your brand doesn’t miss out.
• Continue engaging with fans, brand ambassadors and “halo content” after the event to build brand affinity.

Download the PDF below to access the full report.