Top ads, news from NFL’s biggest game

Novartis is airing a cheeky ad titled “Relax your tight end” for its finger-free test for prostate cancer.

The clip features current and former NFL tight ends, including Rob Gronkowski, chilling by the pool, painting and swinging in hammocks, all set to Enya’s meme-famous “Only Time.”

Former NFL head coach Bruce Arians, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer himself, talks about the blood test before he and Gronkowski ride off into the sunset on horseback.

— Sarah Jackson

Bad Bunny closed out his salsa- and reggaeton-filled Super Bowl Halftime Show on his hit “DtMF,” walking back through the sugar-cane set, naming the countries of Latin America, Canada and the United States, “and my homeland, Puerto Rico.”

He held a football that said, “Together we are America.” Behind him was a stadium screen that read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” calling back to his Grammy acceptance speech from a week earlier.

— Leslie Josephs

Calling in sick the day after the Super Bowl? Matthew Broderick encourages people to take Super Sick Monday off by putting AI workspace Genspark to work for them instead in yet another AI commercial this Super Bowl.

— Sarah Jackson

In October, Bad Bunny joked that English speakers had four months to learn Spanish before his Super Bowl halftime performance. E.l.f. Beauty took note — and was inspired to create “Melisa,” a 30-second spot to promote its Glow Reviver Lip Oil.

The campaign features Melissa McCarthy as Melisa in a fictional telenovela where she has to learn Spanish before the big concert that night. The ad features iconic telenovela tropes like hypersaturated color and unnatural lighting as well as amnesia, an attractive doctor and a romantic rival.

— Sarah Whitten

William Shatner is serious about fiber. The “Star Trek” star teamed up with Kellogg’s to promote gut health with its cereal brand Raisin Bran.

In the Super Bowl spot, Shatner is tasked with bringing fiber to the masses, beaming to and from different locations on Earth to deliver boxes of Raisin Bran.

— Sarah Whitten

Vodka brand Svedka reboots its famous Fembot after 12 years in its commercial, which is primarily AI-generated.

Fembot and Brobot make drinks and dance to “Super Freak,” and the results are indeed “super freaky.”

— Sarah Jackson

Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin made surprise appearances during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.

Gaga sang a salsa rendition of “Die With a Smile” with a Latin flair, while Martin appeared and belted out “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii.”

— Sarah Whitten

It’s halftime, America, and Bad Bunny took the stage at Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.

The Puerto Rican artist walked through a makeshift field of sugar cane, passed a stand of Puerto Rican piraguas, or shaved ice and kicked off the show with “Tití Me Preguntó.”

— Michele Luhn and Leslie Josephs

Peyton Manning, Post Malone and Shane Gillis star in Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad as wedding guests looking for beer to celebrate the nuptials.

The ceremony turns into something reminiscent of the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, as the last keg tumbles down a nearby hill and the entire wedding party follows.

— Sarah Whitten

Fanatics Sportsbook bet on Kendall Jenner this Super Bowl — and it appeared to have paid off early.

In the days leading up to the big game, Jenner’s spicy appearance in the commercial made the rounds on social media. Jenner taps into the lore that she curses her pro basketball ex-boyfriends, saying that betting against them has made her more money than being a model.

Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin has been expanding the business in every possible way and in addition to the sportsbook, recently launched a prediction market platform in 24 states.

— Lillian Rizzo

Toyota Motor decided to tug on heartstrings as well as seatbelts in one of its two Super Bowl ads, called “Superhero Belt.”

The 30-second spot features the automaker’s popular RAV4 crossover. It starts with a child being buckled into one of the first generations of the vehicle by his grandfather, who tells him to use his “superhero belt.”

It then fasts forwards to present day, where the child is taking the grandfather for a ride in the 2026 Toyota RAV4, reminding him to buckle up his “superhero belt.”

— Michael Wayland

The protein craze has hit the Super Bowl.

Oikos is putting the spotlight on its protein-packed yogurt and smoothies in its 30-second spot this year, airing exclusively on Peacock. This marks the Danone yogurt brand’s seventh straight Super Bowl appearance, although it is the first time that it has aired a streaming-only ad.

When a San Francisco trolley starts slipping down one of the city’s famous hills, actress Kathryn Hahn saves the day. Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry holds onto her protein shake for her.

— Amelia Lucas

If your TV turned into a karaoke lyric screen during Super Bowl 60, you’re not alone.

Coinbase, an American cryptocurrency exchange, used brightly colored backgrounds and highlighted colored text set to the tune of “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys to advertise its services.

— Sarah Whitten

Dunkin’ brings a retro vibe to its “Good Will Dunkin'” ad with a slew of celebs from popular sitcoms and movies of the ’80s, ’90s, and aughts.

The commercial, set in February 1995, features Ben Affleck, Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld,” Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc from “Friends,” Jasmine Guy of “A Different World,” Jaleel White of “Family Matters,” Alfonso Ribeiro of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and Ted Danson of “Cheers.”

New England Patriots legend Tom Brady also makes a cameo.

— Sarah Jackson

The New England Patriots once again kept the Seattle Seahawks out of the endzone, forcing a third field goal.

Jason Myers kicked true, extending his team’s lead to 9-0.

— Sarah Whitten

What color is your urine? That’s what Liquid I.V. asks in its Super Bowl ad.

The electrolyte drink mix company’s spot features dozens of singing toilets crooning to Phil Collin’s “Against All Odds” and poses the question: are you properly hydrated?

— Sarah Whitten

Kinder Bueno is making its Super Bowl debut with a 30-second spot that plays on the Spanish phrase, “no bueno.”

As a spaceship hurtles out of control, astronauts and mission control trade off saying “no bueno” and “yes, bueno” while handling the crisis and munching on the candy. Reality TV personality Paige DeSorbo and “Armageddon” actor William Fichtner star.

The ad is part of parent company Ferrero’s broader push into the United States. This year, the company’s North American subsidiary plans to spend more than $100 million on marketing campaigns tied to the Super Bowl and World Cup. In late September, Ferrero also completed its acquisition of WK Kellogg, adding its suite of cereals to a portfolio that also includes Nutella and Tic Tac.

— Amelia Lucas

A football scout uses Microsoft Copilot in Excel to sift through data to gradually narrow down the best linebacker prospects. Many tech giants and smaller AI labs are advertising their agents and chatbots in this year’s Super Bowl.

— Sarah Jackson

In this ad within an ad, Adrien Brody sets a moody scene walking through pouring rain as he says only death and taxes are guaranteed in life, but “at least death only happens to you once.”

A director cuts to tell Brody to dial it down and be less dramatic — TurboTax Experts takes the drama out of taxes, after all — and after a brief existential crisis, Brody storms off, yelling to cue the rain on his way out.

— Sarah Jackson

We’re looking at a lot of people’s backsides in this one. The Levi’s Super Bowl commercial shows a supercut of many people’s behinds as they don Levi’s jeans with the iconic red tab. Most aren’t recognizable, except for Woody’s from “Toy Story,” and “Anxiety” rapper Doechii, who closes out the ad looking at the camera.

The point: Levi’s is “behind every original.”

— Sarah Jackson

Have you ever wondered what Guy Fieri would look like as a normal guy? Bosch has you covered this Super Bowl.

The appliance company, which makes everything from drills to dishwashers, tapped the Food Network star for Sunday’s spot. In the ad, a regular guy (Guy Fieri in a wig) interacts with Bosch’s products and transforms into Guy Fieri.

— Sarah Whitten

Are goalposts modeled after forks missing their inner tines? Is the Pro Football Hall of Fame one big orange juicer?

In Uber Eats’ Super Bowl ad, Matthew McConaughey tries to convince a skeptical Bradley Cooper that football, nay “foodball,” is just one big conspiracy to sell food.

— Sarah Jackson

TV host Andy Cohen doesn’t just love juicy gossip, he’s a big fan of the new Juicy Gummy Clusters from Nerds.

Cohen appears in the Super Bowl spot alongside a giant CGI gummy cluster, lounging by the pool before getting dressed for a big Hollywood premiere.

— Sarah Whitten

Brad Pitt returns as Cliff Booth in “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” a follow-up film to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Netflix dropped a trailer for the upcoming flick during the Big Game’s first quarter. The short teaser was set to retro music and the sepia-toned look of its predecessor, although it appears to be giving ’70s vibes rather than the ’60s seen in the original film.

All R-rated references were censored in a cheeky fashion with an animated scribble blocking out nude women, alcohol, cigarettes and guns. No date was set for the film’s release, but it will be directed by David Fincher.

— Sarah Whitten

WeatherTech shows off its array of storage products for vehicles, including floor liners, seat protectors, no-drill mud flaps, hitch baskets for bulky gear and roof baskets for added capacity on top of your car.

— Sarah Jackson

Unilever’s Dove ad brings the beat, highlighting the role that confidence and joy bring to girls’ sports.

The spot carries on Dove’s long-running focus on improving women’s and girls’ self esteem. The soap brand’s “Real Beauty” campaign kicked off more than two decades ago.

This marks the third straight year that Dove has appeared in the Super Bowl — and the third year that the brand has chosen to spotlight girls’ confidence.

— Amelia Lucas

Lady Gaga sings “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” in a joint Super Bowl ad for Rocket Companies-owned Redfin.

The song plays as neighbors help find a lost dog, chop down a fallen tree after a storm and pick up dropped groceries, among other neighborly gestures.

— Sarah Whitten

The Seattle Seahawks put another one through the uprights early in the second quarter. The successful field goal brings the score to 6-0.

— Sarah Whitten

More than a century ago, Coca-Cola staked its claim on polars bears with a French advertisement. But now, arch rival PepsiCo is claiming to have won them over in a blind taste test, sparking an existential crisis for the mascot.

The 45-second spot also parodies the now-infamous “kiss cam” moment at a Coldplay concert in July and features a cameo from filmmaker Taika Waititi.

As the challenger brand, Pepsi often takes aim at Coke in its advertisements, but the Super Bowl ad is its most direct shot in years and could reignite the decades-long “Cola Wars.”

For its part, Coke hasn’t advertised during the Super Bowl since 2020. But the beverage giant gets the last laugh. Its namesake drink is still the best-selling soda. Plus, Sprite, another one of its brands, leapfrogged Pepsi last year to become the third most popular soda, trailing only Coke and Dr Pepper.

— Amelia Lucas

The Backstreet Boys put a twist on their big hit, “I Want It That Way,” for T-Mobile’s Super Bowl ad.

In the commercial, the ’90s boy band appears in one of T-Mobile’s stores in Times Square, serenading fans about why T-Mobile is better than other mobile carriers. “Tell me why it’s America’s best network?” the band croons to a crowd of fans dancing in pink confetti.

— Lillian Rizzo

Universal unleashed a new trailer for the upcoming “Minions & Monsters” film during the Super Bowl.

The film is due out in theaters July 1.

— Sarah Whitten

In her first Super Bowl ad, Emma Stone tries to get a website domain in her name but repeatedly finds it’s already taken and lashes out at her devices in frustration.

The black-and-white ad, called “Unavailable,” is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, whom Stone has worked with on several films, including “Bugonia” and “Kinds of Kindness.”

— Sarah Jackson

The ad for the new Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses features the likes of Marshawn Lynch and Spike Lee turning to the eyewear with questions as they do various activities like skydiving, skateboarding and running with vultures.

One such question is, “Hey Meta, do vultures eat people?”

— Sarah Jackson

Lay’s puts the focus on its farmers in a sentimental 60-second spot showing a father handing over the keys to the potato farm to his daughter after one last harvest.

It’s one of two ads that the PepsiCo brand planned to air during the game.

Pepsi recently gave the potato chip brand a makeover, redesigning its packaging to highlight the “real potatoes” in the snack. The company also announced on Tuesday that it is cutting the prices of Lay’s and other snack brands by about 15%, all in a bid to win back price-conscious shoppers.

— Amelia Lucas

SNL alum Heidi Gardner and actor Jeff Goldblum find themselves in far-out places in their ad for Apartments.com and Homes.com, like the depths of the Mariana Trench, a sand dune experiencing a haboob dust storm and a decommissioned space shuttle. Both have previously starred in Super Bowl commercials for the real estate listing sites.

— Sarah Jackson

Energy drinks got your head exploding? Liquid Death has a solution.

The water company posted an ad for its Liquid Death Sparkling Energy product on Sunday showcasing the zero sugar beverage.

— Sarah Whitten

Wix shows off its new website builder, Wix Harmony, that lets you use vibe coding and an AI agent, Aria, to build your site. Users still have full manual control to drag and drop elements of their site.

— Sarah Jackson

Serena Williams is front and center at the Super Bowl for a second year in a row.

Ro, the direct-to-consumer health company that offers access to GLP-1 medications, employed the tennis phenom to tell her weight loss story as part of its big game spot.

Last year Ro had “dipped its toes into advertising” for the Super Bowl with a streaming-only ad, Will Flaherty, senior vice president of growth at Ro, told CNBC. This year Ro stepped it up to the traditional broadcast and anchored its ads with Williams, who made a surprise appearance during last year’s halftime performance by rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Ro’s CEO touted the ad — and said the high cost of a Super Bowl spot pays off — in a recent blog post.

— Lillian Rizzo

Lewis Pullman’s “Greg” keeps losing friendly ski races with Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim and Olympic ice hockey player T.J. Oshie, resulting in him having to foot the bill for their Michelob Ultras.

Then Kurt Russell comes along as a cowboy hat-wearing ski guru who guides Greg in a Mr. Miyagi-style training montage.

— Sarah Whitten

“Mystical Magical” singer Benson Boone and “Zoolander” actor Ben Stiller star as brothers who are also part of a Europop duo in Instacart’s Super Bowl ad.

During a performance, Boone does a flip and Stiller attempts to one-up him, jumping from increasingly higher platforms on stage to disastrous, but humorous, effect.

— Sarah Whitten

Disney unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ film.

This is the first theatrical Star Wars debut since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker” and marks the first time the Mandalorian and his ward Grogu will appear on the big screen. The film arrives in theaters May 22.

— Sarah Whitten

It’s all part of the plan when Colin Jost and Michael Che, hosts of SNL’s “Weekend Update,” make a live commercial gone wrong for sports betting platform DraftKings. Super Bowl 60 has already seen several other sports betting ads so far.

— Sarah Jackson

Toyota’s inspirational ad centers on “where dreams began.”

It features three Team Toyota athletes — NFL wide receiver Puka Nacua, U.S. Paralympian Oksana Masters and NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace — meeting their mini-me younger selves who aspired to greatness.

— Sarah Jackson

Seattle tapped in a 33-yard field goal on their first possession. The Seahawks lead 3-0.

— Sarah Whitten

State Farm brings the star power for its Super Bowl commercial, featuring actress and wife of Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, Hailee Steinfeld, seeking coverage from the fictitious Halfway There Insurance, started by comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Danny McBride.

The comic duo turn back the clock with mullets and rock out to “Livin’ on a Prayer,” complete with a surprise appearance by girl group Katseye.

— Sarah Jackson

Ahead of Sunday’s kickoff, Paramount shared an all-new trailer for the upcoming film “Scream 7.”

Due in theaters later this month, the sequel film brings back final girl Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott as well as Matthew Lillard, who starred in the original back in 1996.

— Sarah Whitten

Steven Spielberg returns to the big screen on June 12 with his new film “Disclosure Day.”

The Universal film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson and Colman Domingo and centers around the concept of what would happen if Earth found out humans weren’t alone in the universe.

— Sarah Whitten

The New England Patriots have won the coin toss. They have opted to defer.

This means that Seattle Seahawks will receive the first kick-off and the Patriots will get the ball to start the second half.

— Sarah Whitten

An ad for Trump accounts aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday as part of a massive push to spread awareness about the new savings accounts for children.

In a 30-second spot — paid for by Invest America, a nonprofit advocacy group — children tout the virtues of so-called Trump accounts, also known as 530A accounts, which were created as part of President Donald Trumps’ “big beautiful bill.”

Along with a billboard in New York’s Times Square and a Trump Account Summit, which was livestreamed from Washington on Jan. 28, the Trump administration is pulling out all the stops to get the word out about the pilot program.

The Trump account commercial ran during the pregame broadcast Sunday, though Invest America posted a preview of the ad on X on Thursday.

— Jessica Dickler and Kate Dore

Shoes fly in Skechers’ Super Bowl ad starring “Modern Family” actress Sofía Vergara.

Vergara tosses shoes with laces out the window and into the pool as she touts how easy it is to put on Skechers’ hands-free slip-ins.

— Sarah Whitten

After the teams took the field, Grammy Award-winning “The Story” singer Brandi Carlile sung “America the Beautiful” as part of the pregame entertainment before kickoff, followed by Charlie Puth singing the national anthem.

The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks have taken the field. The two teams faced off against each other 11 years ago during Super Bowl 49, with the Patriots hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the night.

Introduced by long-time fan and Marvel star Chris Pratt, the Seahawks are led by quarterback Sam Darnold and a strong defense.

Jon Bon Jovi did the honors in announcing the arrival of the Patriots, who have Drake Maye at the helm as quarterback and the newly minted AP Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel.

— Sarah Whitten

Brian Baumgartner reprises his role as everyone’s favorite accountant from “The Office,” Kevin Malone, in his ad for fintech startup Ramp.

Overwhelmed with work, he starts using Ramp and dozens of Kevin clones appear out of nowhere, helping divide and conquer. The ad ends with two Kevins recreating an iconic scene, carefully transporting a vat of his famous chili through the office; this time, it stops short of the spill.

— Sarah Jackson

Manscaped is depending on discarded hairballs to get its message across.

The men’s grooming company is using its debut in the Super Bowl as an opportunity to tell customers that it has grown beyond the foundation of its business.

“Manscaped is a brand that has been around for a few years now, but we’re at this very important moment in our trajectory, which is a big push for products beyond the groin, which is our first claim to fame,” Chief Marketing Officer Marcelo Kertesz told CNBC in an earlier interview. “We have something new to communicate to the world.”

The commercial features men shaving hair from every part of their body, and the remains singing a ballad about life after leaving the follicle.

— Lillian Rizzo

Artificial intelligence companies are investing lots of money and resources into advertisements at this year’s Super Bowl.

Anthropic and OpenAI are joined by a multitude of other tech companies in advertising this year, taking the space of some of the biggest categories as traditional companies, like automakers, retreat slightly.

Google, Amazon and Meta are just some of the companies advertising this year, joined by smaller AI companies like Genspark and Wix, too.

This year’s Super Bowl ads cost a record $8 million on average for a 30-second spot, with some reaching as high as $10 million.

– Laya Neelakandan and Julia Boorstin

The ads are rolling pregame.

GrubHub’s Super Bowl debut, directed by “Bugonia” filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, stars George Clooney as the bearer of good news: GrubHub will eat the fees. The promotion pledges to cover delivery and service for orders over $50.

Wonder, founded by billionaire Marc Lore, has owned the delivery service for about a year, one of many splashy acquisitions made by the delivery and takeout concept. Under its new ownership, GrubHub has been trying to regain the market share it has ceded to DoorDash and Uber Eats.

— Amelia Lucas

The Seahawks and the Patriots aren’t the only ones squaring off this Super Bowl.

Anthropic took aim at its rival, OpenAI, with its first Super Bowl ad campaign. 

The artificial intelligence startup announced this week that it will not introduce ads to its Claude chatbot, just weeks after OpenAI said it will begin testing ads for some users within ChatGPT.

Anthropic’s Super Bowl campaign centers around its decision to keep Claude ad-free. It’s airing a 60-second pregame ad and a 30-second in-game ad that both feature the tag line, “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.” 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to the ads in a post on X, calling them “funny” but “clearly dishonest.”

“We would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them,” Altman wrote. “We are not stupid and we know our users would reject that.”

— Ashley Capoot

For the first time ever, Unilever plans to run three separate ads during this year’s big game, showing the British company’s increased focus on the U.S. as the center of its growth strategy.

The consumer giant will air spots for Hellmann’s, Dove and Liquid I.V. While they represent only three brands out of the hundreds owned by the company, each represents a distinct product category that is important to its U.S. business: food, personal care and wellbeing.

The U.S. currently accounts for more than a fifth of Unilever’s sales, according to company filings. About 95% of U.S. households use at least one of Unilever’s products, according to the company.

But the company’s big Super Bowl bet shows that it isn’t content with those numbers, and it is counting on the game’s massive audience to buy its products after seeing the spots.

“I do think the nation stops to a degree when the Super Bowl comes together,” said Herrish Patel, President of Unilever USA and CEO of the company’s North American personal care division. “Eighty percent of that [audience of] 127 million actually watch the commercials.”

— Amelia Lucas

It’s no secret that buying a spot in the Super Bowl costs big bucks. But now that the game is also streamed in addition to the traditional TV broadcast, smaller brands have a more affordable entry point to get in front of millions of viewers during the biggest live event on TV every year.

Viewers who watch the game on Peacock will see all the big commercials the Super Bowl is known for — and a smaller subset of ads earmarked as streaming-only.

This year that’s allowed brands like cowboy boots maker Tecovas and family location safety app Life360 to advertise for the first time during the Super Bowl. Last year, healthcare startup Ro bought a streaming-only ad. This year Ro decided to buy placement during the traditional telecast, and scored tennis superstar Serena Williams for the commercial.

Streaming-only spots make up about 10% of the full ad inventory during the big game, and cost about half of what a traditional TV commercial goes for, Mark Marshall, NBC Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships, told CNBC.

“So cheaper, but still not cheap,” said Marshall. “And part of it is also you don’t have many of these spots, right? So I think people caught on to this trick over the past couple years, and it’s done really well in streaming. And as a result, a lot of people are lining up and wanting to do that.”

These ads, which appear nationally, fill the same slots that air regional commercials during the TV network broadcast.

— Lillian Rizzo

President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News prior to the game that it was “terrible” that former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t get a first-ballot election into the NFL Hall of Fame.

“I thought it was terrible,” Trump said in the hourlong interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas. “He’s won so much, won so many Super Bowls. Great coach.”

“Well, you know, you have a great career and he has had a little bit of a controversial year and a half, two years maybe,” Trump added. “But what difference does that make? “He should be in there right at the top.”

— Leslie Josephs

Just days before the Super Bowl, New York Attorney General Letitia James warned New Yorkers about the risks associated with prediction markets.

“New Yorkers need to know the significant risks with unregulated prediction markets,” James said in a statement Monday. “It’s crystal clear: so-called prediction markets do not have the same consumer protections as regulated platforms. I urge all New Yorkers to be cautious of these platforms to protect their money.”

Kalshi responded in a statement saying the platforms are regulated by the CFTC.

“We all want the same thing: safe, fair and legitimate products,” Kalshi’s statement read.

– Laya Neelakandan and Alex Sherman

While the NFL season caps off with the Super Bowl on Sunday, the action won’t stop there.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC last year that the league could renegotiate its media rights deals as early as 2026 — four years ahead of the current agreement’s opt-out clause.

Currently, the NFL is in the midst of an 11-year, $111 billion media rights deal that it signed in 2021. That deal contained an opt-out clause after the 2029-30 season for all of its media partners (except Disney, which has an extra year of rights).

But a new media rights deal would not only give the league the chance to add potentially billions of dollars to its coffers, but could also give the media rights partners certainty on the number of years they have claim to the most-watched live TV content.

After an explosive season of ratings, it will surprise few if the league restarts negotiations once football enters its off season.

In addition to Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Paramount Skydance, Amazon and Fox are partners in this media rights package. The league would need agreement from them to start new discussions.

— Lillian Rizzo

Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Tuesday responded to reports that he was snubbed from this year’s NFL Hall of Fame, along with former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

The class of honorees were unveiled on Thursday at the NFL Honors ceremony in San Francisco.

“What matters to me is that we win Sunday,” Kraft told CNBC earlier this week.

Kraft and Belichick together led the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins.

“I can’t speak on issues where other people are voting or doing things,” he added.

– Laya Neelakandan

Automakers have historically been major buyers of ads during the big game, but this year they’re largely sitting it out.

They’ve been inconsistent with advertising during the Super Bowl in recent years. Automakers accounted for 40% of Super Bowl ad minutes in 2012, but that dropped to 7% by 2025, according to ad data company iSpot. The pullback follows broader uncertainty in the U.S. automotive industry.

Only three automakers — General Motors, Toyota Motor and Volkswagen — are expected to air ads this year, totaling roughly 2 minutes.

— Michael Wayland

It was a big year for NFL team sponsorships.

Revenue from the partnerships was up 8% to $2.7 billion this year, “reinforcing the league’s position as the most valuable marketing platform in U.S. sports,” according to a report from data provider SponsorUnited.

The report found technology, financial services and ticketing systems were the top sectors among sponsors. Tech companies provided the biggest increase and spent $21 million across 88 deals. Of note, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Evolv were the biggest spenders, surpassing $1 million each.

The Dallas Cowboys generated the most sponsorship revenue of any team. The New England Patriots also found their way into the top five teams by sponsorship revenue.

— Lillian Rizzo

Kalshi on Thursday announced new methods of surveilling and enforcing practices on its platforms as skepticism builds around the booming predictions market space.

The announcement came just days before the Super Bowl, with the prediction market saying trading volume for the big game had already surpassed $160 million.

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said the company has now formed surveillance committees and has created a Head of Enforcement to ensure the platform is operating legally. Over the past year, Mansour said, Kalshi ran over 200 investigations into user behavior and frozen “relevant” accounts.

“All industries have bad actors and no system is perfect, Kalshi’s included,” Mansour wrote. “But we are committed to improving daily. Lots of work ahead!”

– Laya Neelakandan

Generation Z could be behind the recent boom in prediction markets, like Polymarket and Kalshi, which are open to those 18 and older.

Data from HoldCrunch, a firm founded by a former FanDuel executive, showed that Kalshi takes in major trading volume on college football, which could offer a clue into the user demographics.

According to Kalshi, college football hit its highest percentage of total trades on the platform yet, at 32%, for the week ended Jan. 4. The NFL held 24% of total wagers, while the NBA held 22%.

And Truist analysts wrote in a recent note that the 18- to 20-year-old cohort could be the reason behind the surge, especially in New York, where online sports betting is legal but limited to people 21 and older.

– Laya Neelakandan and Contessa Brewer

Bad Bunny is set to perform at halftime.

The Puerto Rican rapper-singer made history last week as the first artist to bring home the coveted album of the year award at the Grammys for an all-Spanish-language album with “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”

He’s also the first Spanish-language artist to solo headline the Super Bowl halftime show.

Bad Bunny — who has been crowned the most-streamed artist of the year on Spotify multiple times — is also known for advocating for Puerto Rican independence and criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including at the Grammys.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ‘ICE out,'” he said last Sunday as he accepted the award for best música urbana album.

Bad Bunny has previously said he wants the show to be for everyone. He announced the performance with a trailer from Apple Music that read, “February 8 the world will dance.”

— Michele Luhn

Charlie Puth will help kick off Super Bowl 60 with a rendition of the national anthem.

The big question is, how long will it take the “We Don’t Talk Anymore” singer to belt out the anthem? You see, there’s always a prop bet on the length of the national anthem.

Here’s how long previous singers have taken:

• 2025: Jon Batiste – 1:59
• 2024: Reba McEntire – 1:36
• 2023: Chris Stapleton – 2:01
• 2022: Mickey Guyton – 1:51
• 2021: Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan – 2:17
• 2020: Demi Lovato – 1:49
• 2019: Gladys Knight – 2:01
• 2018: Pink – 1:52
• 2017: Luke Bryan – 2:04
• 2016: Lady Gaga – 2:23
• 2015: Idina Menzel – 2:04
• 2014: Renée Fleming – 2:03
• 2013: Alicia Keys – 2:36
• 2012: Kelly Clarkson – 1:34

— Sarah Whitten

Lids, the retailer known for selling hats and other merchandise for pro sports team, is edging its way into the Super Bowl this year with some stats of its own.

The retailer broke down the top selling NFL gear by state, highlighting some fun trends ahead of the Super Bowl.

To note, the top selling jerseys don’t come from either of the teams facing off in Sunday’s game.

Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles (winner of Super Bowl 59) was the top-selling jersey overall at Lids stores. Also in the top five were his teammate Jalen Hurts, along with Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers (who lost to Seattle for a spot in this year’s Super Bowl), Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb.

Despite another disappointing season, the Cowboys proved to still be America’s team with the top-selling gear nationally at Lids stores. Ironically enough, that didn’t ring true in the Cowboys’ home state. Instead, Houston Texans’ quarterback C.J. Stroud was the top selling jersey in the Lone Star State.

— Lillian Rizzo

Heading into the big game, prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket had contracts open for the big event, including around the advertising slate for the broadcast.

Some of those trades include whether Salesforce, Verizon or Coca-Cola, for example, would advertise this year, along with more nuanced predictions like, “Who will appear in a big game ad before Feb 9, 2026?” Those options ranged from Sydney Sweeney to Harry Styles and more.

And of course, users can wager on traditional football outcomes like most rushing yards.

Prediction markets have skyrocketed in popularity in recent months, prompting critics to say the industry is unregulated and the offerings amount to little more than illegal betting.

Kalshi and Polymarket maintain their products do not constitute gambling and that they have consumer protections in place.

– Laya Neelakandan, Alex Sherman and Contessa Brewer

NFL regular season games scored big in 2025.

Live sports often eclipse most other programming on TV for the biggest audiences, most especially the NFL.

This season was no different. NFL games averaged 18.7 million viewers per game on traditional TV and digital platforms — up 10% from the prior year, according to Nielsen — marking the second-most-watched NFL season on record.

Two of the matchups with the biggest viewership came in Week 13 of the season: 57.3 million average viewers tuned in for Kansas City vs. Dallas, while Green Bay vs. Detroit garnered 47.7 million.

Meanwhile the rematch between Super Bowl opponents Philadelphia and Kansas City garnered 33.8 million viewers.

— Lillian Rizzo

NBCUniversal is having itself a “Legendary February,” as the Comcast media unit works to establish itself as a frontrunner in the sports streaming space.

In additional to airing Super Bowl 60, NBC is also broadcasting (and streaming) the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, and next week, it will air the NBA All-Star game as part of the media company’s new NBA media rights deal.

Still, NBC and Peacock aren’t meant to be sports-only platforms, according to Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh.

“Have you watched ‘Stumble’? Have you watched ‘St. Denis [Medical]’? We don’t want to be a sports-only service. That’s not the plan,” he said in a recent interview.

Read more about NBC’s push into live sports.

Disclosure: CNBC parent Versant is carrying NBC Sports-produced Olympic coverage on its networks, including USA Network and CNBC.

– Laya Neelakandan and Alex Sherman