Broadcast coverage of the Super Bowl LIX rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles didn’t begin for some viewers until fewer than five minutes remained in the first quarter.
Fox instead showed bonus coverage of the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game in overtime while the Chiefs-Eagles matchup kicked off. Even some subscribers of YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket experienced the delay until the Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey won the game on a 46-yard field goal as the overtime period expired.
In a statement to The Athletic, YouTube said there were “no issues” with the broadcast. The Chiefs-Eagles game, as a national broadcast, would not typically be available on Sunday Ticket, though YouTube said it did make the game available until the Cowboys-Giants game ended.
“We execute embargo rules based on the direction of our partner networks and the NFL,” the statement read. “We opened embargoes for the markets in which we were able to do so successfully and at the correct time.
“In this case, the DAL game ran over the allotted time. When this happens local broadcasts can continue to air the game. Meanwhile, we opened up the KC game to ST holders. This is standard practice but doesn’t happen often.”
There were at least some users who were not able to access the Chiefs-Eagles game via Sunday Ticket and weren’t able to watch it until the Cowboys-Giants game ended.
YouTube, responding to a subscriber on X, said that it had temporarily delayed airing the game on Sunday Ticket for users until it was available for them locally.
Neither team scored in the first 10-plus minutes missed by some TV viewers. Saquon Barkley put the Eagles on the board with a 13-yard touchdown run with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
Earlier this week, media industry sources told The Athletic that Fox is projecting around 30 million viewers for the Eagles-Chiefs game, which would be the best Week 2 performance on record for the NFL. The game is the 11th rematch of a Super Bowl in the following season in league history — and just the fourth to occur within the first two weeks of that season.
(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
Sep 15, 2025
Connections: Sports Edition
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today’s puzzle