Philadelphia Eagles fan Matt Quinn reacts as the Kansas City Chiefs score a touchdown against the Eagles at a watch party for Super Bowl LVII at Grotto Pizza in Wilmington, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023. The Chiefs won 38-35

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Record 182.8M tuned into Super Bowl LIX

A record 182.8 million unique viewers turned into Super Bowl LIX for at least one minute, according to new Nielsen data released on Tuesday.

Nielsen previously announced that the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 win against the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 9 in New Orleans averaged a record 127.7 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, Telemundo and streaming services.

The higher numbers announced Tuesday are from Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel “Reach” methodology. The new metric “more precisely measures out-of-home viewing,” according to Nielsen.

The reach of 182.8 million viewers exceeded the previous record of 182.2 million set one year earlier with Super Bowl LVIII.

Historically, Nielsen has used a Total Audience measurement. The company said it retired that metric in January in favor of the new Big Data + Panel numbers.

–Field Level Media

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts holds the Lombardi Trophy during the championship trophy presentation after the Eagles' game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Super Bowl LIX draws record 127.7 million viewers

A record 127.7 million viewers watched the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, according to the official Nielsen numbers released Tuesday.

The game in New Orleans aired on Fox, Fox Deportes and Telemundo and streamed on Tubi and drew a combined average household rating of 41.7 and combined household share of 83. The audience peaked at 137.7 million during the second quarter, from 8 to 8:15 p.m. ET.

Viewership was up 3.2 percent over the previous year, when a then-record 123.7 million watched the Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in Las Vegas.

The Super Bowl is annually the most watched U.S. telecast of the year. In fact, 19 of the top 20 most-viewed telecasts in national history are Super Bowls, the lone exception being the final episode of the sitcom “M*A*S*H,” which drew 105.9 million viewers in 1983.

–Field Level Media

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs the ball against Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook (6) in the first quarter in Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Saquon Barkley breaks Terrell Davis’ yards from scrimmage record

NEW ORLEANS — Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley set a new NFL record for yards from scrimmage accumulated over the regular season and the playoffs on the first play from scrimmage of Super Bowl LIX on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

On a first-down handoff, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year darted left, rumbled for four yards and passed Terrell Davis for the most regular-season and postseason combined yards from scrimmage with 2,764.

Davis’ mark, 2,762 yards, set with the Denver Broncos in 1998, had stood for 26 seasons.

The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft (New York Giants), Barkley had 2,283 yards from scrimmage in the regular season and came into the Super Bowl with 477 in the postseason — 2,760 total, just three yards shy of owning the mark for himself.

Barkley, celebrating his 28th birthday Sunday, is nearing another Davis record, that of regular-season and postseason combined rushing yardage. Davis totaled 2,476 yards rushing that same season in 1998.

Barkley came into Super Bowl LIX with 2,447 yards accumulated over the regular season (2,005) and the playoffs (442), just 29 shy of Davis’ rushing record.

Coming into the game, Barkley was also 268 yards away from passing Darren Sproles (3,027) for most all-purpose yards in a single season (including playoffs), set in 2011 with the New Orleans Saints.

–David Gladow, Field Level Media

Dec 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) walks from the tunnel for a game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Eagles undecided on Saquon Barkley’s record pursuit

The status of Saquon Barkley’s pursuit of the NFL single-season rushing record remains up in the air.

Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said during his weekly radio show with 94WIP on Tuesday that he will meet with players and team brass before deciding whether Barkley will play in Sunday’s regular season finale against his old team, the New York Giants, at Lincoln Financial Field.

The NFC East champion Eagles (13-3) are locked into the No. 2 playoff seed in the NFC, turning the contest against the Giants (3-13) into an ideal opportunity to rest their starters for the postseason.

Barkley, 27, needs 101 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s hallowed mark of 2,105 yards set during a 16-game season in 1984. Barkley has rushed for at least 101 yards in 11 games this season, including Sunday’s 41-7 rout of the Dallas Cowboys when his 167 yards made him the ninth player in NFL history to reach 2,000.

“I’ll talk to our staff, I’ll talk to the players, I’ll talk to (general manager) Howie (Roseman), I’ll talk to (owner) Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie. I’ll talk to everybody to try and make sure that I’m making the best decision for the football team,” Sirianni said Tuesday.

Sirianni’s next media availability is Wednesday, when he is expected to announce the playing status for Barkley as well as quarterback Jalen Hurts (concussion protocol) and other starters.

There is a precedent for playing Barkley. In the Eagles’ 2021 season finale against Dallas, Sirianni rested several key players but gave wideout DeVonta Smith a chance to break the franchise’s rookie receiving record held by DeSean Jackson. Smith had 41 yards to finish with 916, topping Jackson’s 2018 total of 912.

“If you think back a couple of years ago to 2021, Smitty was going for the rookie receiver record. Everybody else was resting, but we wanted for everyone else — whatever it was — we didn’t play some other guys in that game, but we went and got him that record,” Sirianni said. “Every situation is a little different. Not saying one way or the other or how that’s going to play out or even that I made a decision yet.”

Barkley told reporters on Sunday that he will respect Sirianni’s wishes.

“Whatever his decision is, I’m all for it,” Barkley said. “If his mindset is, we’ll go out there and try it, I’ll go out there and try it. If his mindset is, let’s rest and get ready for this run, I’m all for that, too … I came here to do something special. Breaking a record is special, but I want a banner up there. I think we all do.”

In his first season with the Eagles, Barkley leads the NFL in rushing attempts (345), rushing yards (2,005) and yards from scrimmage (2,283).

–Field Level Media

Sep 5, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) and wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) talk with reporter Melissa Stark after defeating the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

NFL sets record for Week 1 viewership

The NFL set a Week 1 viewership record with 21.0 million average viewers on television and digital platforms, NFL Media reported Wednesday.

That represents a 12 percent increase over the 2023 opening week.

Additionally, total viewership was the highest since 2019, with 123 million people seeing at least part of one game over the course of opening week from Thursday through Sunday.

“A great start with the viewership. It was great to be back and a lot to be excited about,” said Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media.

Not surprisingly, the most-watched game of Week 1 was Thursday night’s season-opening rematch of last season’s AFC title game. The Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens averaged 29.2 million on TV and digital.

The Sunday night standalone game on NBC — a 26-20 overtime win by the Detroit Lions over the Los Angeles Rams — averaged 3 percent more viewers than last year with 22.7 million.

An average of 23.9 million viewers watched the premiere of Tom Brady in the booth for Fox Sports, with the Dallas Cowboys taking care of the Cleveland Browns 33-17. That was the best Week 1 number for Fox since 2020.

–Field Level Media

Dec 21, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; The NFL shield lgo on the field at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NFL salary cap rises to record $255.4M

The 2024 salary cap surged to a record $255.4 million per team, up more than $30 million from last season.

The NFL made the massive increase official on Friday and announced each club will have $74 million for player benefits, which includes both money for performance incentives and benefits for retirees to raise the total player personnel spending to $329.4 million per team.

Teams had a salary cap of $224.8 million in 2023 and projections of a cap limit around $240 million were off by more than 50 percent. The increase in spending is due to new media deals as well as a finalizing of the books to remove advances and deferrals necessitated by the pandemic from the league ledger.

With the new cap set, only six teams were over the salary cap for 2024 as of Friday. That includes the New Orleans Saints, who have a league-high $321 million on the books for player contracts in 2024.

The Washington Commanders have nearly $100 million and a league-high cash surplus factoring in the $30 million increase for the 2024 cap.

Teams had been operating under the estimation that they would see a salary cap increase of around $14 million.

Clubs have until the start of the new league year — March 13 at 4 p.m. — to get under the salary cap.

The cap has risen annually since 2011, except for 2021, as the league prioritized recovery from the pandemic, including loss of live attendance gate and concessions profits.

In 2011, the cap was $120.37 million. It crossed the $200 million barrier in 2022 at $208.2 million.

The NFL also released what clubs must pay players should the teams use the franchise tag or the transition tag, per position.

Franchise tag:
Quarterback: $38.3 million
Running back: $11.9 million
Wide receiver: $21.8 million
Tight end: $12.7 million
Offensive lineman: $21 million
Defensive end: $21.3 million
Defensive tackle: $22.1 million
Linebacker: $24 million
Cornerback: $19.8 million
Safety: $17.1 million
Kicker/punter: $6 million

Transition tag:
Quarterback: $34.4 million
Running back: $9.8 million
Wide receiver: $19.8 million
Tight end: $10.9 million
Offensive lineman: $19 million
Defensive end: $19.1 million
Defensive tackle: $18.5 million
Linebacker: $20 million
Cornerback: $17.2 million
Safety: $13.8 million
Kicker/punter: $5.4 million

–Field Level Media

Chiefs fans wave Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce cutouts at Arrowhead Stadium.

Report: SBLVIII tickets reach record prices

With the NFL’s title game in Las Vegas for the first time, combined with the Taylor Swift effect on the Kansas City Chiefs’ side and the San Francisco 49ers’ West Coast fandom, ticket prices are a record level for Super Bowl LVIII.

According to ticket aggregator TicketIQ, the average secondary ticket market list pricing for the Feb. 11 game at Allegiant Stadium has reached a record $10,752. Tickets for Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla., went for a higher number but the pandemic limited capacity to just 25,000.

Average prices for Super Bowl LVIII were at a record $9,815 on online marketplace TickPick, an increase of 70 percent over last year’s title game, Front Office Sports reported.

Making their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five seasons, the Chiefs have been a popular team for years. Support for the Chiefs has been bolstered by Swift’s relationship with star tight end Travis Kelce, which has the pop star’s fans swooning from coast to coast.

The 49ers, who are aiming to join the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers with the most Super Bowl wins (six), are highly popular on social media. It also doesn’t hurt that San Francisco is loaded with offensive stars — Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Brock Purdy.

Wrapping it all up is the fact that Las Vegas, a destination for millions of partygoers, is hosting the country’s largest single sporting event.

“This is probably one of the lower-impact (potential) matchups, actually, and demand is still up,” TicketIQ founder and CEO Jesse Lawrence told Front Office Sports. “All bets are off for where this goes over the next two weeks, but I do think team demand is less of a factor this year, and the Vegas location is definitely helping drive this.”

Just to get into this Super Bowl, it’ll cost fans more than $7,000, one of the highest non-COVID figures for the annual event.

However, had the Detroit Lions prevailed over the 49ers in the NFC title game, the ticket prices likely would’ve skyrocketed even further. The Lions, who have never played in the Super Bowl, won their first playoff game in 32 years and won two postseason games for the first time since 1957.

“The Lions’ demand for this would have been through the roof,” Lawrence said.

–Field Level Media

Jan 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half in the AFC Championship football game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Travis Kelce breaks Jerry Rice’s playoff receptions record

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce set an NFL record for most career postseason receptions during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the host Baltimore Ravens.

Kelce’s seventh reception of the game was his 152nd postseason catch, surpassing the mark held by legendary Jerry Rice. The record-breaking catch came midway through the second quarter.

Kelce, 34, played in his 21st postseason game on Sunday. Rice played in 29 during his career from 1985-2004.

In the first quarter, Kelce caught his 19th postseason touchdown catch, three shy of Rice’s record.

Kelce went over 100 yards receiving on Kansas City’s first possession of the third quarter. It is his eighth 100-yard outing in the postseason, tying Rice for the all-time record.

–Field Level Media

Jan 7, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (17) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Rams WR Puka Nacua sets two rookie receiving records

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Pula Nacua set NFL rookie records on consecutive catches in the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.

A 7-yard pass from Carson Wentz pushed Nacua’s yardage total to 1,480 this season, surpassing the 1,473 of rookie Bill Groman of the Houston Oilers in 1960.

On the next play, Wentz and Nacua connected for the fourth time in the game for 6 yards, giving Nacua, a fifth-round draft pick this year, 105 catches, one better than the Miami Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle in 2021.

The Rams scored a touchdown on the drive, pulling to within 20-13 late in the third quarter. San Francisco has already locked in the top NFC seed in the postseason, and the Rams were assured of a wild-card berth.

The teams were playing numerous backups, and Nacua immediately left the game after his historic catches.

–Field Level Media

Dec 2, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA;  Alabama Crimson Tide place kicker Will Reichard (16) warms up before the SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama kicker Will Reichard becomes NCAA’s all-time leading scorer

Alabama kicker Will Reichard booted a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter of Saturday’s Southeastern Conference title game to become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer with 533 career points.

Reichard finished the game with 539 career points. He tacked on three extra points and a 28-yard field goal to help No. 8 Alabama to a 27-24 win over top-ranked Georgia.

The kick against Georgia with 3:43 left in the period snapped a tie between Reichard and former Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who scored 530 points from 2012-15. Reynolds scored 88 touchdowns and added one two-point conversion.

Reichard, a fifth-year kicker, entered the contest with 290 extra points and 80 field goals.

Reichard also entered Saturday with 104 points this season. He was 18 of 21 on field goals and had made all 50 extra-point attempts.

–Field Level Media