Super Bowl 60 is set to kick off with a packed ad slate, Bad Bunny halftime and prediction markets at the fore

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

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

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

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