Super Bowl LX

Super Bowl LX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2025 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots 29–13. The game took place on February 8, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the second Super Bowl held in the stadium and the third held in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Seahawks' victory was their second, previously having won 2013's Super Bowl XLVIII during their Legion of Boom era. Finishing the season with a 14–3 record and the NFC's top seed, they were making their fourth appearance. The Patriots, who finished with a 14–3 record and the AFC's second seed, extended their record of appearances to 12. They were seeking a record seventh title and their first since the Brady–Belichick era after last winning 2018's Super Bowl LIII. The two franchises previously met in Super Bowl XLIX, which was won by the Patriots.

Seattle scored the only points of the first three quarters, converting four field goals to take a 12–0 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks scored the first touchdown of the game before the Patriots responded with their own touchdown to cut the score to 19–7. A series of New England turnovers, however, allowed the Seahawks to score 10 consecutive points and put the game out of reach. With the loss, the Patriots became the first team to lose six Super Bowls. Running back Kenneth Walker III was named Super Bowl MVP after rushing for 135 yards and helping set up several of Seattle's field goals. He was the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis in 1997's Super Bowl XXXII.

The game was broadcast on NBC in addition to streaming on NBCUniversal's Peacock. It became NBC's most-watched program in its history at around 125 million viewers worldwide and peaked at around 137 million worldwide, a 2% (~2 million viewers) decline from Super Bowl LIX a year prior. Similarly, the Super Bowl LX halftime show headlined by the Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and featured Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin also represented a decline in viewership by 4% (~5 million viewers) at 128 million viewers. After the game, several sports outlets referred to the game as being among the worst Super Bowls due to both teams' offensive struggles, although the performance of the Seahawks defense was praised.

Background

Host selection

The NFL has made all decisions regarding hosting sites since organizing Super Bowl LVII in 2022, at which point they removed the bidding process. The new process meant that potential hosts would put together a proposal, with the league owners then voting to determine viability. On May 22, 2023, the NFL announced that Super Bowl LX would be played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, home of the San Francisco 49ers. This is the third Super Bowl in the San Francisco Bay Area and second at Levi's Stadium. Super Bowl XIX, played at Stanford Stadium in 1985, was won by San Francisco 49ers over the Miami Dolphins. More recently, Super Bowl 50, played at Levi's Stadium in 2016, featured the Denver Broncos defeating the Carolina Panthers.

Logo

As has been a tradition since Super Bowl LVI, the logo includes Roman numerals featuring imagery from the host city/region. For Super Bowl LX, the logo was revealed on February 9, 2025, in a social media post by game broadcaster NBC Sports following the conclusion of Super Bowl LIX, ahead of a formal unveiling at a post-game press conference in New Orleans the next day. The Roman numerals have a CMYK theme, incorporating Bay Area landmarks such as the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, and redwood trees.

Super Bowl week events

The Super Bowl Experience was hosted at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. In October 2025, it was announced that the 2026 Pro Bowl Games would be held on the Tuesday prior to the Super Bowl, February 3, at the Moscone Center, downsizing the event and integrating it into the Super Bowl's festivities.

Teams

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks finished the 2025 season with a 14–3 record under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald. This was their fourth appearance, having last won 2013's Super Bowl XLVIII and last appeared in Super Bowl XLIX the following year, both during their Legion of Boom era.

Following back-to-back years of narrowly missing the playoffs, the Seahawks sought to retain two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith for the 2025 season, but a contract dispute led to them trading Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. The same day as Smith's trade, Seattle signed free agent quarterback Sam Darnold, who was coming off a breakout season with the Minnesota Vikings after seven years in the league. The Seahawks made further changes to the offense by parting ways with veteran wide receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf by release and a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively. New wide receivers included Cooper Kupp, the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl LVI MVP, who was signed in free agency after being released by the Los Angeles Rams. The day of the NFL trade deadline, the Seahawks acquired Pro Bowl wide receiver Rashid Shaheed from the New Orleans Saints. On defense, the Seahawks signed four-time Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency after he missed most of the 2024 season with the Dallas Cowboys due to a foot injury.

Seattle's offense improved from 14th in yards and 18th in points to eighth in yards and third in points. Darnold received a second Pro Bowl selection after throwing for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns, along with having a career-high completion percentage of 67.7%, although he also led the league in fumbles at 11 and turnovers at 20. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the league's receiving yards leader at 1,793, earning him Offensive Player of the Year, along with Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors. He also led the team in receiving touchdowns at 10. The rushing game was led by running backs Kenneth Walker III, who was Seattle's leading rusher at 1,027 yards and scored five touchdowns, and Zach Charbonnet, who led the Seahawks in rushing touchdowns at 12 and had 730 yards.

The Seahawks had the top scoring defense, previously ranking 12th, and were sixth in yards, previously ranking 14th. Earning both Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors was defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who had 62 tackles. Williams and defensive tackle Byron Murphy II both led the team in sacks at 7.0 each, with Murphy adding another 62 tackles. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon also received Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors after recording 72 tackles. Linebacker Ernest Jones was the team leader in tackles at 126 and interceptions at five, earning him a second-team All-Pro selection. Also named to the Pro Bowl was Lawrence, who had 53 tackles and 6.0 sacks. They were collectively known as "The Dark Side". On special teams, Shaheed was the only player in the league to score both a kick return touchdown and a punt return touchdown, earning him Pro Bowl honors as a kick returner. Punter Michael Dickson, who had the sixth-longest punt average at 49.9, received a second-team All-Pro selection.

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots finished the 2025 season with a 14–3 record under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel. This was their 12th appearance, extending their record for the most in NFL history. They won a record six Super Bowls during the franchise's dynasty under the leadership of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, concluding with a victory in 2018's Super Bowl LIII.

By 2025, the Patriots had regressed to one of the worst teams in the league, finishing the past two seasons with a 4–13 record at the bottom of the AFC East. During this period, they selected quarterback Drake Maye third overall in the 2024 NFL draft, who earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie despite the team's struggles. Following coaching turnover, New England hired Vrabel, the 2021 Coach of the Year with the Tennessee Titans, who played for the Patriots when they won their first three Super Bowls. Josh McDaniels also rejoined the Patriots as offensive coordinator for the third time, previously holding the position from 2006 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2021. To help improve the offense, New England signed four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was returning from an ACL injury he suffered the past year with the Houston Texans. Having the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Patriots selected offensive tackle Will Campbell to boost their offensive line, which had finished as one of the worst the previous season. New England also took running back TreVeyon Henderson in the second round of the draft. Defensive acquisitions included linebacker Robert Spillane following a career season with the Las Vegas Raiders and linebacker Harold Landry after he was released by the Titans.