Bills-Chiefs Smashes AFC Championship Ratings Record With Monster TV Audience – Sports Illustrated
Love or hate the Kansas City Chiefs, they remain preposterously compelling television.The Chiefs’ 32–29 win over the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s AFC championship drew an audience of 57.4 million viewers, Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal reported Tuesday morning.That is the largest audience in the history of the AFC championship, and the largest audience for either conference championship since 57.6 million watched the New York Giants’ 20–17 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers after the 2011 season.Though it has been one-sided in the playoffs, the Chiefs and Bills have forged one of the best sports rivalries of the 2020s—meeting in four of the last five postseasons. The intrigue surrounding their always-close games, plus public interest in Kansas City’s bid for a Super Bowl three-peat and musician Taylor Swift’s relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, likely combined to drive record ratings.Ironically, the Philadelphia Eagles’ 55–23 NFC championship win over the Washington Commanders was the least-watched NFC championship since the 2018 season, drawing “only” 44.1 million viewers.Kansas City—gunning for the Super Bowl era’s first three-peat, the NFL’s first three-peat since the Green Bay Packers of the 1960s, and major North American men’s sports’ first three-peat since the Los Angeles Lakers of 2000 to ’02—will play the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9.feedPatrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history . Follow PAndres2001© 2025 ABG-SI LLC. – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators’ opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
