The Philadelphia Eagles' 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIX marked not just a shift in NFL power dynamics but also represented another test of the event's advertising and viewership supremacy, as industry observers await official audience numbers.

What Happened: Last month, Brian Steinberg of Variety.com noted that Nielsen's Big Data + Panel now officially measures total audiences. Super Bowl LVIII drew 123.7 million viewers, ranking as the second most-watched television program in U.S. history after the 1969 moon landing. Even with a 10% boost to 136.7 million, that's still far from the U.S. population of 335 million, according to NBC Sports.

This year's broadcast strategy included a streaming component through Fox's (FOXA  -1.27%) Tubi platform. The Spanish-language rights were shared between Fox Deportes and Telemundo in an arrangement aimed at maximizing reach.The event maintained its celebrity appeal, with notable attendees including Taylor Swift and President Donald Trump, who made history as the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl.

Why It Matters: Fox Sports sold out its premium advertising inventory months before the game, with some spots commanding $8 million for 30 seconds, according to Fox Sports Executive Vice President Mark Evans. The high-stakes advertising playground attracted major tech companies and traditional brands alike, with artificial intelligence emerging as a dominant theme.

Notable advertisers included Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG  2.59%) (GOOGL  2.83%) Google, which faced scrutiny for claims in its Gemini AI ad, Salesforce Inc. (CRM  -0.05%) featuring Matthew McConaughey, and Meta Platforms Inc. (META  -0.50%) with a star-studded spot featuring Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth. In a significant return to Super Bowl advertising, Nike Inc. (NKE  -0.02%) broke its 27-year hiatus with a women-empowerment-themed commercial.