Super Bowl Social Roundup – Trends, Influencers, and Data from the Big Game

The Kansas City Chiefs are back-to-back Super Bowl champions! The Chiefs defeated the 49ers in an overtime thriller that ended with a touchdown drive led by Patrick Mahomes to seal the win. The game had 123.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever! Now that the dust has settled, let’s dive into the content from the big game.

The digital world was buzzing with excitement throughout the event. Not only was there a great game to be played, there was the Usher halftime show, appearances by many celebrities (because who else can afford a Super Bowl ticket?!), bold tv ads, post-game celebrations, and so much more! Let us give you the inside scoop on the social media explosion from this year’s Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Social Performance

The Super Bowl champions continued to dominate on social media. The Chiefs scored their best ever day on social media with 21.0 million engagements and 143.4 million video views; Compared to last year’s Super Bowl victory, those metrics represent 63% and 99% increases! Topping it all off, their #1 most engaged-with post racked up 912,246 engagements.

Surprisingly, the NFL took a dive on social media during this year’s Super Bowl. Despite having record-breaking television viewership, the league decreased in every major social metric compared to last year’s Super Bowl. Most notably, they had -34% change in video views. As you continue to read this blog, you’ll see that the musical performances and celebrity appearances gave the NFL a big boost on social media, which means that this dip might have something to do with football and original football fans.

One positive that did surface for the NFL was their TikTok growth! On Super Bowl Sunday, they had 187.2 million video views on TikTok, a 134% increase from last year’s Super Bowl. This continues to look like a strong shift in content focus for the NFL and teams in the league.

While the 49ers did not put up social numbers like the Chiefs, they still managed to receive 6.4 million engagements, 49.9 million video views, and $3.7 million in media value. Again, this goes to show how much winning can have an impact on the business of sports.

Musical Artists Have Big Impact

The top 4 social posts on Super Bowl Sunday from the NFL featured musical artists! Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris took the #1 spot with a TikTok video of their electrifying performance. The video received over 16.4 million video views and 2.0 million engagements. The other artists featured in the top 4 NFL posts were Post Malone, who sang America The Beautiful before the game, and Rihanna, who performed last year’s halftime show. All together, these posts received 5.7 million engagements and 38.6 million video views!

Speaking of Usher, his Super Bowl halftime performance was full of memorable moments of entertainment! He brought out his whole crew of friends as he played songs alongside Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Will.i.am, Lil Jon, and Ludacris. There were costume changes, roller skates, acrobatics, a marching band, and so much more to his performance. 

The top 20 halftime show posts from the NFL received 77.4 million video views and 7.9 million engagements! Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about the performance, but Usher was definitely a hit on social media for the NFL.

While the football game was entertaining and significant, it’s clear that this event is about much more than a game. The spectacle and entertainment value of the Super Bowl caters to millions all around the world who want to see the most talented and celebrated stars putting on one of the largest performances of their careers

Taylor Swift Super Bowl

On top of musicians performing in the Super Bowl, there were a lot of musicians and other famous celebrities in the stadium. It’s no surprise that one celebrity in particular was a major focus: Taylor Swift. Swift is dating Chief’s star player Travis Kelce, which has taken social media by storm this season. 

The top 25 posts by the NFL featuring Taylor Swift content received 100.2 million impressions, 68.4 million video views, and 7.5 million engagements. She did not perform. She did not play in the game. She just purely existed as a fan. Swift chugged a beer, enjoyed the game with her celebrity friends, and celebrated Travis’ accomplishment after the game on the field. Her celebrity status is that powerful on social media.

Player Arrivals – Walking the NFL Runway

“Player arrival” posts feature athletes entering the stadium in their street clothes/game day outfits. This social content scene has become a very successful trend for professional sports teams’ social media efforts. Fans love to see more of their favorite players off the court where they can showcase their unique personalities. Sponsored entrance tunnel walls and/or backdrops are becoming very common as teams look to monetize this content. The Super Bowl was no exception. Uber Eats was featured in “player arrival” posts from both teams and the NFL, which in total received over $653,000 worth of exposure from players and celebrities entering the tunnel featuring their backdrop.

Players came into Las Vegas wearing flashy suits, wild fits, custom jackets, and even traditional ta’ovala. Travis Kelce took home the top spot with a sparkling black outfit, racking up 4.7 million video views on this Chiefs TikTok video. 49ers’ fullback Kyle Juszczyks’ wife Kristin made multiple custom jackets, which have become very popular after she made jackets for Taylor Swift, Brittany Mahomes, and Taylor Lautner this postseason. 

Super Bowl MVP – Patrick Mahomes 

Patrick Mahomes continues to impress. Not only did he lead his team to another come from behind victory, but he took home the Super Bowl MVP again. In just seven seasons, Patricks Mahomes now has three Super Bowl Championships and three Super Bowl MVP awards. His Super Bowl MVP post from the Chiefs received 2.7 million impressions! 

The Super Bowl has always been more than just a game, but every year it seems to get flashier with more performances, more coverage and more content. The sports world will now turn its head to the other sports leagues like the NBA and NHL, but this Super Bowl will surely be a topic of conversation all off-season.

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