Super Bowl 60 got underway on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots contesting the Lombardi Trophy as pre-game entertainment, high-value advertising, and new-era betting products shaped the build-up to kick-off.

US President Donald Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social, “Enjoy the Super Bowl, America! Our Country is stronger, bigger, and better than ever before and, THE BEST IS YET TO COME! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP” as the much awaited game kicked off with New England Patriots winning the toss.

Green Day opened the pre-game festivities for Super Bowl LX as the NFL’s biggest night returned to the home venue of the San Francisco 49ers, with NBC carrying the broadcast and streaming platform Peacock simulcasting the game for digital audiences.

The New England Patriots won the coin toss and chose to defer, ensuring the Seahawks would receive the opening kick-off while New England will begin with possession at the start of the second half.

The early tactical decision set the tone for a tightly-watched opening phase, with both teams expected to prioritise field position and disciplined execution in the first quarter.

Green Day began performing during the pre-game programme, adding a stadium-scale music moment to the build-up at Levi’s Stadium.

The performance served as the first major on-field entertainment beat of the evening, ahead of the formal national ceremony and kick-off.

After both teams took the field, Grammy Award-winning singer Brandi Carlile performed “America the Beautiful” as part of the pre-game entertainment.

Charlie Puth then followed with the national anthem, completing the traditional ceremony ahead of kick-off.

The commercial economy surrounding Super Bowl 60 reached new heights, with NBC selling out of advertising inventory at an average of $8 million per 30-second spot, CNBC previously reported.

As many as 10 ad slots were sold for more than $10 million each, underscoring how the championship game continues to function as a premium global advertising platform even amid shifting media consumption patterns.

Peacock viewers, meanwhile, were offered a slightly different commercial slate, including streaming-specific advertising — an area gaining traction particularly among smaller brands looking for targeted visibility.

The price of Super Bowl commercials goes higher and higher each year as the Super Bowl’s TV audience keeps rising. Last year’s game was watched by 127.7 million viewers, a record high. That game, broadcast by Fox, generated about $7.5 million per 30-second spot, with 10 or so ads commanding more than $8 million.

According to Marshall, technology companies have bought the most spots across this year’s slate, though NBC defines technology relatively broadly: Uber Eats, for example, is considered a tech company. Only two automobile companies are advertising during the game. About 40% of advertisers this year have never bought a Super Bowl spot before, Marshall said.

Politics and policy also found space in the pre-game advertising run.

An ad for Trump accounts aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday as part of a massive push to spread awareness about the new savings accounts for children.

In a 30-second spot — paid for by Invest America, a nonprofit advocacy group — children tout the virtues of so-called Trump accounts, also known as 530A accounts, which were created as part of President Donald Trumps’ “big beautiful bill.

Along with a billboard in New York’s Times Square and a Trump Account Summit, which was livestreamed from Washington on Jan. 28, the Trump administration is pulling out all the stops to get the word out about the pilot program.

The Trump account commercial ran during the pregame broadcast Sunday, though Invest America posted a preview of the ad on X on Thursday.

The halftime show — headlined by Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny — emerged as one of the most actively discussed elements of the day even before kick-off.

This year, however, the pre-game conversation was not driven solely by social media speculation. It was also shaped by prediction markets, which have grown rapidly in recent months and increasingly allow users to trade on outcomes across politics, sport, pop culture and news.

Leading up to Sunday’s game, Kalshi hosted trades tied to the Super Bowl, including which brands would advertise, which songs Bad Bunny would perform, and whether Seattle or New England would record more rushing yards.

A striking shift in this year’s advertising mix was the sheer number of artificial intelligence firms investing in Super Bowl placements.

An unprecedented number of AI companies are advertising in the Super Bowl.

Artificial intelligence companies are investing lots of money and resources into advertisements at this year’s Super Bowl.

Anthropic and OpenAI are joined by a multitude of other tech companies in advertising this year, taking the space of some of the biggest categories as traditional companies, like automakers, retreat slightly.

Google, Amazon, and Meta are just some of the companies advertising this year, joined by smaller AI companies like Genspark and Wix, too.

This year’s Super Bowl ads cost a record $8 million on average for a 30-second spot, with some reaching as high as $10 million.

The trend highlights both the expanding marketing ambitions of AI players and the broader reconfiguration of brand categories willing to spend at the very top of the advertising market.

With the coin toss complete and pre-game ceremonies concluded, Super Bowl 60 has formally moved into its opening phase.

The Seahawks will receive the first kick-off, while the Patriots will begin the second half with possession — a familiar strategic choice, but one that often shapes momentum and play-calling decisions across the game’s critical middle quarters.

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