For just the second time in franchise history, the Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions and on top of the NFL mountain.
With their defense and Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III as the anchors, the Seahawks prevailed against the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX, which was hosted at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Nicknamed the “Dark Side,” the team’s defense caused chaos for regular season MVP runner-up quarterback for the Patriots, Drake Maye, sacking him six times and forcing over three turnovers.
Seattle linebacker Derick Hall forced the first turnover of the game, his first since 2024, in the third quarter with a strip sack. In the fourth quarter, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and safety Julian Love each generated interceptions for the Seahawks.
The Patriots didn’t get on the board until Maye found wide receiver Mack Hollins for a 35-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 19-7 with 12:27 remaining in the game. As a result of back-to-back interceptions on the Patriots’ next series, New England never got any closer.
Walker patrolled Seattle’s offense with 135 rushing yards and an average of five yards per carry. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, a first-round-pick-turned-journeyman, went the whole game without a turnover and completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown.
In addition to the big game, several high-profile musical artists also played a prominent role in the festivities. Brandi Carlile sang “America the Beautiful” and Coco Jones delivered “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Charlie Puth sang the national anthem before the game, while Bad Bunny put on an electrifying halftime show, featuring appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
Prior to getting hired by the Seahawks two years ago, head coach Mike Macdonald was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. Once he began his tenure at Seattle, he already had a reputation of being the “defensive Sean McVay.” This came at a time when most teams were looking for the next young offensive genius to lead the way. Super Bowl LX was a clear sign of Macdonald proving the program right, creating championship-caliber formulas by betting on coaches who know how to slow down the NFL’s best offenses.
The Seahawks went 14-3 in the regular season, losing three games by nine combined points. They dominated the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round, got an impressive NFC championship game win over the Los Angeles Rams, then shut down the Patriots in the Super Bowl. From beginning to end, a common theme had been that there was no “great team” during this season.
Viewership Numbers
According to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel rating system, Super Bowl LX averaged 124.9 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+.
This year’s NFL finale fell short of last year’s total where the Philadelphia Eagles updated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 on FOX, which averted 127.7 million U.S. viewers.
Bad Bunny’s halftime performance averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15 to 8:30p.m. This is now the fourth-most-watched halftime show behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million in 2025), Michael Jackson (133.3 million in 1993), and Usher (129.3 million in 2024).
The audience peaked at 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter (7:45-8:00 p.m.), which is a new record. That surpassed the previous mark of 137.7 million during the second quarter of last year’s Super Bowl. In addition, this year ended a streak of audience increases for the past four Super Bowls. It’s also the fifth consecutive year the game has averaged over 100 million viewers.
At one point, the Turning Point USA halftime show featuring Kid Rock peaked at five million viewers on YouTube.
YouTube figures highlight that there were 21,208,583 views of the alternative halftime show through Tuesday night, according to the conservative organization’s page. Bad Bunny’s performance had 61,311,972 views on YouTube.
Social media impact
According to the NFL and Ripple Analytics, the total social media consumption of Bad Bunny’;s halftime show set a new record of four billion views after the first 24 hours, which is now a 137% increase over last year.
The social media figures consist of fans, various owned platforms, broadcast partners, and influencers across many platforms.
The NFL said that over 55% of all social media views came from international markets.
Looking ahead into next season
According to ESPN’s Early 2026 Power Rankings, the Seahawks check in at No.1 with the Patriots right behind them at No. 2. This year’s NFL Draft will be held on Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25 in Pittsburgh.
