Even in an emphatic rout for the Eagles, Super Bowl LIX made U.S. television history.

The game, won by Philadelphia over Kansas City 40-22, drew an average audience of 126 million on Fox, according to initial projections. The figure beat last year’s Super Bowl by 2% and set a new mark as the most-watched event ever on U.S. television. 

The unprecedented figure defied normal viewership trends in a blowout game such as this, which typically would show a sizable reduction in viewers in the latter portion of the competition. Super Bowl LIX, however, featured two popular teams (the Eagles and Chiefs), numerous pop culture intersections highlighted by music superstars Taylor Swift and halftime entertainment Kendrick Lamar, and an appearance by U.S. President Donald Trump that was the first to the NFL title game by a sitting commander-in-chief.

Additionally, the game was an early debut of a newly expanded measurement methodology from Nielsen that included betting counting of out-of-home audiences critical to an event such as this. 

The game audience peaked in the second quarter with a figure of 135.7 million.

The initial figures released by Fox late Monday were fast nationals from Nielsen, along with internal online metrics. The network’s Tubi streaming service, which typically does not show live sports, drew an audience of 13.6 million. That online audience—reaching 14.5 million when also including NFL digital properties and well above pregame expectations—was undoubtedly a key difference-maker in helping establish the new record. 

Final audience figures for the game are expected Tuesday. 

Super Bowl LIX was also a rather emphatic end to the 2024 season for the NFL that included a strong viewership number for the AFC championship games, but otherwise showed declines in the divisional playoff round, wild-card games, and regular season. 

As is the case each year, the Super Bowl also reaffirmed the NFL’s status as the most-watched programming in U.S. television, regardless of genre. 

Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore took a major step toward finalizing a deal for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx—nearly four years after they first entered into an agreement to acquire the teams. 

An arbitration panel ruled 2-1 ruled in favor of Rodriguez and Lore, a decision announced on Monday that will allow the acquisition to move forward. The two entered into an agreement to purchase the teams valued at $1.5 billion from Glen Taylor in May 2021 under a three-year succession plan that Taylor sought to scuttle last year. 

“We are extremely pleased with today’s decision,” Rodriguez and Lore said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “We look forward to working with the NBA to complete the approval process and close this transaction so that we can turn our attention to winning championships in Minnesota for our incredible fans and the Twin Cities community.” 

Taylor, who purchased the Timberwolves for $88.5 million in 1995, and his wife, Becky, said they are “disappointed” by the arbitration decision.

“We will review the decision thoroughly prior to making any further comment,” Taylor said in a statement. “We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Timberwolves and Lynx players, staff, and loyal fans for their support.”

The ruling effectively gives the duo control of the Timberwolves and Lynx pending a vote by NBA owners—unless Taylor uses the courts in another attempt to halt the transaction. The NBA is expected to issue a statement on the arbitration decision Monday night. 

The battle over the future control of the Timberwolves and Lynx entered arbitration last May. Taylor alleged Rodriguez and Lore, who already owned 36% of the clubs, missed a March 2024 deadline to acquire another 40%. Lore and Rodriguez, however, contended they made payments per the terms of the pact and that Taylor was experiencing “seller’s remorse.” The Timberwolves alone are valued at $3.1 billion, according to Forbes. 

“We have fulfilled our obligations, have all the necessary funding, and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process,”  Rodriguez and Lore said last March. 

Since Taylor agreed to sell the team the Wolves have become one of the NBA’s up-and-coming teams thanks to the emergence of star player Anthony Edwards. The team made the Western Conference finals a year ago for just the second time in franchise history partially due to president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, who Rodriguez and Lore hired away from the Denver Nuggets. Connelly’s contract has an opt-out clause at the end of the season and there was speculation he could leave if Taylor retained control of the team. 

In April 2024, ESPN reported that part of Taylor’s reasoning for pulling the team off the market was because Rodriguez and Lore planned to slash the team’s payroll upon gaining control, which would hurt its ability to contend for championships. The report raised eyebrows because Taylor isn’t known as a big spender who has only paid $25.5 million in luxury tax in his time as owner and none since 2011. Additionally, the team traded star player Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks in October, who was in the first year of a four-year, $220 million extension. 

Rodriguez and Lore said that Taylor’s decision last year to call off the deal was “short-sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans.” In October, sources told FOS that Rodriguez and Lore deposited more than $940 million into an escrow account. The funds reportedly included investments from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. 

Alex Schiffer and Dennis Young contributed reporting.

Will the Eagles parlay a Super Bowl title into a new stadium? Not directly, but the championship nonetheless brings into sharper focus the team’s facility future and its place in the remaking of the South Philadelphia sports complex.

The Eagles, fresh off the Super Bowl LIX victory over the Chiefs and set to open the 2025 season at home, play in Lincoln Financial Field, a nearly 22-year-old facility that is now rapidly becoming one of the league’s older stadiums. Though the team is not actively developing a new venue, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in the run-up to the 40–22 victory Sunday over the Chiefs that more informal considerations have begun on what a next-generation facility could be, acknowledging “we’re starting to talk all about it and think about what our options are.”

A key fulcrum in that consideration is whether to pursue a domed facility.

“I love outdoor football. I love the cold games,” Lurie said. “On the other hand, Philadelphia deserves to host the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, lots of great events. It’s an incredible sports city. Does it deserve it? Yes. So we have to balance all those things.”

Lurie’s sentiments are hardly unique. Across a variety of other major U.S. markets—including Chicago, Cleveland, and Kansas City—teams and public officials are also either actively pursuing or are at least considering domed stadiums that would be available to host major events such as the ones the Eagles owner cited, as well as the College Football Playoff and WWE’s WrestleMania. 

The Eagles’ current lease at the city-owned Lincoln Financial Field expires in 2032, leaving some time—but not an excessive amount—to determine the next steps. To that end, a variety of options remain on the table, including different levels of renovations to the existing facility that would provide varying amounts of additional time for a new one to be built.

The Complex Question

Whatever Lurie and the Eagles elect to do, it will almost certainly be in the context of what is happening around the franchise in the sports complex. Also home to Citizens Bank Park and Wells Fargo Center, the area will ultimately get a new arena thanks to a dramatic deal recently struck between Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, owner of the NBA’s 76ers, and Comcast Spectacor, owner of the NHL’s Flyers and the existing indoor venue. 

That forthcoming arena will be a centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development plan for the complex being led by Comcast Spectacor, and modeled in part by The Battery in Atlanta. Well before the 76ers deal, the Phillies also became a formal part of that broader vision, striking a partnership with Comcast Spectacor, and plans involving the MLB club include the creation of a “Phillies Plaza” adjacent to Citizens Bank Park. 

Comcast Spectacor has not yet struck a similar agreement with the Eagles, and industry sources said the slower pace in those talks owes in no small part to the team’s recent playoff push and the organizational focus there. With the Super Bowl now done, though, it will bear close watching if, how, and when the Eagles formally join the development alliance.