Super Bowl LVIII saw the Kansas City Chiefs claim victory over the San Francisco 49ers (26 – 22) and become the most-watched telecast in US history with 123.4 million tuning in.
In Australia, Seven’s broadcast reached 2.7 million Australians across Seven and 7plus, up 43% on 2023. The average national total TV audience of 800,000, up 67% from last year. Meanwhile, BVOD viewing soared with the live stream on 7plus, delivering 128% growth year-on-year with 37.7 million minutes streamed.
See also: Seven’s Super Bowl broadcast is up 43% on 2023 as live stream soared 128%
But this year’s game has also generated plenty of buzz compared to the previous year thanks to ads, half-time performance, and Taylor Swift.
Meltwater data revealed the Super Bowl generated 12.2 million total mentions over seven days in the lead-up to the event, with the most action happening on game day (February 12), reaching over 7.5 million.
The data also revealed that men generated almost half of all media mentions and social conversations about the Super Bowl online at 51.5%. However, women showed plenty to engage with as they followed closely behind at 48.5%.
Super Bowl 2024 vs 2023
The hype and excitement surrounding this year’s Super Bowl also created almost double the interest than last year’s game, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles.
At the height of last year’s game, 5.39 million total mentions generated a stark difference compared to 10.6 million in this year’s game between the Chiefs and 49ers.
Super Bowl 2024 – Ads Featuring Women
This year’s Super Bowl also saw an increase in ads featuring women with one particular ad cutting through the noise to be the most talked about – Verizon’s one-and-a-half-minute ad with Beyoncé with 96.2k of all media mentions and social conversations.
It was also the most talked about ad in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and and India.
Meanwhile, many have attributed the rise of health and beauty brands buying advertising during the Super Bowl to Taylor Swift, who was at the event cheering on her boyfriend, Kansas City Chief’s tight end Travis Kelce and his team to victory.
Swift’s appearance at NFL games since going public with Kelce in October 2023 has created well over $122 million of brand value for the NFL, MarketWatch reported. She has also been credited with a boost in viewership from women, with Nielsen reporting a rise of 8.1% among 12 to 17-year-old girls watching the sport.
Among the brands that bought advertising during the Super Bowl were L’Oréal, Nyx Cosmetics, e.l.f Cosmetics, Cera Ve and Dove.
Super Bowl 2024 – 10 Most Talked About Brands
Many brands released teasers of their ads in the lead-up to Super Bowl day to create buzz, and again, Verizon’s ad with Beyoncé was the most effective.
The conversation surrounding the crescendo from February 11 peaked on Super Bowl day before gradually simmering on February 13.
The second most talked about ad was from Chinese-owned e-commerce company Temu with an animated commercial that aired three times during the game, which had a similar trajectory to the Verizon ad on the graph but with much less hype and conversation in comparison.
Super Bowl 2024 – Teams vs Taylor vs Usher vs Beyonce
Meltwater also looked at the data surrounding the most prominent names to feature on Super Bowl day – the teams: Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, and the celebrities: Taylor Swift, Usher and Beyoncé.
Among the teams, the Kansas City Chiefs took out the top spot with 2.35 million mentions, compared to the San Francisco 49ers at 1.28 million.
Taylor Swift and Blake Lively
Meanwhile, Usher and his Apple Music half-time show generated the most mentions with 2.33 million – just behind the Chiefs. The R&B star brought out his hit songs from the 2000s and special guests such as Alicia Keys, H.E.R., and Will.I.Am, Lil Jon and Ludacris for his 13-minute performance.
Following behind Usher was Taylor Swift with 1.64 million – just above the 49ers 1.28 million, despite only being on screen for 55 seconds out of the four hours and 18-minute broadcast, USA Today counted.
See also: Are you ready for it? Mediaweek takes a look at the brands jumping on the Taylor Swift bandwagon