When it came to possible Super Bowl matchups as the NFL Playoffs began, a game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots wouldn’t have been among the favorites for NBC to draw the biggest and most invested audience for Super Bowl LX.
That’s not to take away from Sam Darnold, Drake Maye, and the players and teams involved. Hopefully, it will be a great game and go down to the wire like the first Super Bowl game the teams played a decade ago, when Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal line for another Lombardi Trophy victory for New England.
However, it is to say that there may be a struggle to find really captivating storylines heading into this year’s game that have been present in the recent past. Does Drake Maye sliding comfortably into Tom Brady’s throne move the needle? How about the unlikely career journey of Sam Darnold? Is America ready to anoint Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the next great NFL star? It’s not quite Taylor Swift watching the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty.
And all of the noise surrounding the game isn’t helping the cause.
This year, more than ever, it seems as if the Super Bowl, the biggest event on the sporting calendar, is somehow being overshadowed by everything happening around the game. Given the popularity of the NFL, it seems impossible. But it’s happening right before our very eyes.
The NFL is uniquely gifted at controlling the narrative. The league dominates so much of the American sports and culture scene that it is rarely distracted. But for the first time in a long time, the focus is mainly off the field as we approach Super Bowl LX.
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The biggest story in the NFL has been the ongoing controversy around the Hall of Fame snub of Bill Belichick. The daily cycle of leaks, columns, opinions, and reports has been perfect fodder for the 24/7 news cycle. And now that news of Robert Kraft also being snubbed has leaked, that will only continue. The story has been dominating headlines for a week with mystery, drama, and intrigue surrounding the voting process, the leaks, and the selection practices of the hall itself, providing for the perfect attention-getter during the two-week break between Championship Weekend and the Super Bowl.
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The most talked about individual at Super Bowl XL isn’t a player or coach, but halftime performer Bad Bunny, and the political impact of his halftime show amidst horrific ICE raids around the country. The fact that Bad Bunny was a big winner at the Grammys on Sunday only increased the hype surrounding his performance at the big game. It goes without saying that this may be the most anticipated halftime show in modern times, given the political and societal impact.
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Just one minority coach was hired out of ten head coach openings as the NFL continues to have major diversity issues. This is an issue that continues to be a major one for the NFL to address, as it also extends to the hiring of offensive coordinators.
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Four different NFL owners were mentioned in the Epstein Files, with Giants co-owner Steve Tisch the most shocking participant. While Goodell was able to delay any definitive reaction or statement at his annual Super Bowl press conference, the league is going to have to say something of note eventually.
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The NFL received rapid approval for its monster equity deal with ESPN, which could reshape the entire sports media industry. How exactly did the NFL get government approval so quickly? And now that the deal is official, how will the NFL’s business and ESPN’s coverage be shaped by it moving forward?
And that’s not even mentioning the continuing conversation around an expanded slate of international games spanning the globe or the possible expansion of an 18-game regular season. Then there’s the news of the coaching cycle itself and the stream of reporting ongoing regarding front office moves, the NFL Draft, and so much more. And in non-NFL news, we have the NBA trade deadline and the Winter Olympics also competing for space on social media and daily rundowns.
This was an issue during the College Football Playoff as well, where all of the off-field drama surrounding the transfer portal overshadowed the late stages of the championship tournament. Thankfully, once we got to the Indiana-Miami title game, all the focus shifted quickly back to the field… except of course for the Abella Danger cameo.
It’s still a strange reality for the NFL to face, though. When Super Bowl LX kicks off, we will forget about all these storylines for a moment. But it is proof that, in this day and age, not even the NFL is exempt from the constant churn of news and chaos that envelops so much of our lives in 2026.
This originally appeared in the Wednesday edition of The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here and be the first to know everything you need to know about the sports media world.
About Matt Yoder