Dazzling halftime show, lower viewership, higher ad rates – Firstpost

The official Super Bowl LX viewership numbers are still not in, but by all estimates, the match between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium was a huge success, as it has always been. The Seahawks won the National Football League (NFL) final, beating the Patriots 29-13, while the much-awaited halftime show included performances from singers Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga and a wedding.

According to reports, just the
halftime show has garnered over 130 million viewership across platforms. Which underlines the popularity of the upper Bowl product and hints towards a massive overall viewership figure.

Super Bowl LIX (2025) had a combined viewership of 190 million (including 127.7 million in the USA and around 62.5 million outside the States). The 2025 final so far is the most-watched Super Bowl game of all time.

How does the Super Bowl compare to IPL?

Despite being one of the most popular sporting finals in the world, the Super Bowl is nowhere close to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in viewership. The craze for the Super Bowl globally is largely fuelled by the influence of the USA, but it doesn’t transpire in the highest viewership among major sports finals due to the limitations of American football.

The USA and Canada are the only major countries that host American football championships. It is also not a sport that has international teams.

In such a scenario, IPL hugely dominates the Super Bowl in terms of viewership, with cricket being extremely popular in India, which has a population of around 1.5 billion. Cricket also had a bigger international audience.

Super Bowl vs other major sporting finals

The IPL 2025 final recorded around 300 million viewers across digital and TV channels, which is exponentially more than the record made by Super Bowl LIX last year.

The Cricket World Cup 2023 final between India and Australia in 2023 was a massive success as 500 million viewers tuned in to watch the match.

The real daddy, however, is the FIFA World Cup final. The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France in Qatar is the most-watched final in the history of sports, with an estimated viewership of around 1.5 billion globally.

Super Bowl vs IPL advertising rates

The record viewership for the Super Bowl also leads to record advertising rates. According to NBC, the broadcaster of the match, a 30-second slot was being sold at $10 million (around Indian Rs 91 crore).

This is where the Super Bowl trumps IPL hands down due to the USA being a bigger economy. Despite far lesser viewership, the advertising rates for the Super Bowl are much higher, while it stood at around Rs 90 lakh for the 2025 IPL final, according to Moneycontrol.

From your SUPER BOWL CHAMPS 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/o2zWbQMnlZ

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 9, 2026

But IPL has made massive progress in this direction, with ad rates once being a few lakhs for a 10-second slot. But in 2025, broadcasters charged Rs 28 lakh for a 10-second slot. It signifies that soon IPL broadcasters will be at a stage where they can charge over Rs 1 crore for a 30-second slot.

While it’s way behind the Super Bowl rates, it’s impressive nonetheless.