Super Bowl LIX kicks off today in New Orleans with the scrappy Philadelphia Eagles taking on the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs… whom almost everybody hates.
Driving the news: The Chiefs are trying to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls. It’s unclear whether this potential historic feat is bad or good for interest in the game, which has scored record ad money but seen resale ticket prices drop.
- The milestone is certainly good for the team: earlier this week, the franchise launched a production studio to capitalize on its popularity.
Catch-up: The running joke all season is that the Chiefs have been using “dark magic” or “Tayvoodoo” (named after their most famous fan, Taylor Swift) to win. From timely penalties to flukey plays, the team secured many of its league-leading 15 wins in an unlikely fashion.
- The Chiefs have also won 17 straight games that were decided by just one score — the longest streak in NFL history and a record that, statistically, shouldn’t happen.
Many fans have speculated something less supernatural… accusing the NFL of ordering refs to favour the Chiefs. It’s gotten to the point that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked point-blank about it at a Super Bowl press conference. He resolutely denied the claim.
Yes, but: If the NFL were rigging games, they’d likely do it for a larger market team. Despite their dominance, the Chiefs rank as just the 18th most valuable franchise out of 32 teams, much lower than the Eagles, which raked in US$85 million more in revenue in 2023, in the eighth spot.—QH