Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes star in top ten most-watched NFL moments of the last five years
The NFL has exploded in popularity across the world – and that has certainly been reflected in its record-breaking TV ratings.
The sport has grown in the United Kingdom thanks to games being played in London at Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and more games are being shown on Sky Sports for those of us on the other side of the pond to enjoy on a Sunday.
Of course, while the NFL offers entertainment on the field, it’s full of it off the turf too.
The Kansas City Chiefs have become synonymous with Taylor Swift and her Swifties through fiancee Travis Kelce, while the Super Bowl’s halftime shows offer moments of serious cultural significance – cough, Kendrick Lamar, cough.
The last five years alone have seen a number of pivotal events in the NFL that have lured in ground-breaking numbers of television audiences in its home of the United States.
It’s hard to know exactly how many people have watched the best of those moments, with clips now so readily available after the moment on numerous platforms to watch forevermore. The NFL’s YouTube channel alone has millions of views on their highlight clips.
However, we can look at the reported figures on how many people watched each event on TV at that time.
So what are the top ten moments with the highest viewership in the NFL between 2020 and 2025? talkSPORT.com runs through them right here.
10. Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs Divisional Playoff – 33.8million viewers
The Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs broke the ESPN record for the most-watched non-Super Bowl NFL game in January this year.
The Chiefs kept their hopes of a historic third straight Super Bowl win alive as they held off the Texans in a 23-14 Divisional Round win at Arrowhead in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kelce set a new NFL record with his ninth career 100-yard game in the playoffs, as they earned a spot against the Buffalo Bills in the Conference Championships. The rest is history!
9. Super Bowl LV Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 95.9million viewers
Now-Birmingham City co-owner Tom Brady’s last Super Bowl win comes next in the rankings. He led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 blowout win over the Chiefs in February 2021, securing his record seventh Super Bowl ring.
Brady also joined ex-Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos star Peyton Manning in being the only quarterbacks to win Super Bowl titles with multiple franchises.
The Chiefs also lost the chance to be the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since Brady’s New England Patriots in 2003/04.
8. Super Bowl LVI Los Angeles Rams vs Cincinnati Bengals – 101.5million viewers
The 2022 Super Bowl saw the Los Angeles Rams win with a 23-20 comeback victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Rams scored a late touchdown, stopping the Bengals winning their first Super Bowl – just two years after being the NFL’s worst team.
With the game taking place at the SoFi Stadium, the Rams are only the second team to win a Super Bowl in their own stadium after the Buccaneers.
7. Super Bowl LIV San Francisco 49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs – 102.1million viewers
2020’s Super Bowl saw the Chiefs win their first title since 1970.
Patrick Mahomes, then 24, became the youngest player to be named Super Bowl MVP and established himself as more than an ‘up and coming star’.
He led the Chiefs to a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
6. Super Bowl LVII Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles – 115.1million viewers
The Super Bowl in 2023 saw Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.
Fox’s broadcast of the game became the most-watched programme in American television history, with an average of 115.1 million viewers.
The previous record was set in 2015, when 114.4million people watched the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
5. Rihanna’s Halftime Show at Super Bowl LVII – 121million viewers
Since its 121million viewers at the time of broadcast, 289million people have watched it on the NFL’s YouTube channel.
Rihanna confirmed she was pregnant with her second child by showing off her bump during the performance.
This didn’t stop her from performing at her best, as she brought out her classics ‘Only Girl [In The World]’ and ‘Where Have You Been’.
4. Usher’s Halftime Show at Super Bowl LVIII – 123.4million viewers
2024’s Super Bowl saw star Usher draw in a huge audience.
The pop star’s guests included Alicia Keys, H.E.R., will.i.am, Lil John, Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri.
Continuing his celebrations, Usher married his long-term partner Jennifer Goicoechea in Las Vegas, where the Super Bowl was held.
3. Super Bowl LVIII San Francisco 49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs – 123.7million viewers
The Super Bowl game itself became the most watched broadcast since the 1969 Moon landing.
The Chiefs beat the 49ers 25-22 in overtime.
Swift’s highly anticipated attendance to watch her then-boyfriend Kelce may have boosted the figures, although it was unclear before the game whether she would make it back from her tour in time to watch.
2. Super Bowl LIX Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles – 127.7million viewers
This year’s edition brought in a record number of viewers for a Super Bowl, breaking a record set by the previous year’s Super Bowl.
The Eagles beat the Chiefs 40-22, and built a 24-0 lead in the first half alone.
But this NFL game may have attracted more than just sports fans…
1. Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime show at Super Bowl LIX – 133.5million viewers
The United States and beyond waited to see if rapper Kendrick Lamar was going to hit back at former friend Drake during his halftime show.
Lamar used it as a platform to perform his diss track ‘Not Like Us’, assumed to be aimed at Drake. Other musical icons Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and 50 Cent were all involved in Lamar’s other songs during the performance too.
The halftime show also has 371 million views on YouTube alone.
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