Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs battled it out with the Philadelphia Eagles for the biggest trophy in football, trying for a history-making three-peat Super Bowl win.
But the real action at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans? That all happened off the field — just ask the camera trained on Taylor Swift’s VIP section as she cheered on boyfriend Travis Kelce — or, in the case of Kendrick Lamar’s performance, while the players were in their locker rooms at halftime.
Here are the biggest nonsport moments at the Super Bowl LIX.
#1. President Trump was in the crowd, first sitting president ever to attend
Flanked by his two children, Ivanka and Don Jr, and cheered when he popped up on the jumbotron saluting during Jon Batiste’s jazz-inflected national anthem performance, U.S. President Donald Trump was at the game — making him the first sitting president ever to attend a Super Bowl.
Before he left Mar-a-Lago for Louisiana, Trump released a statement that said, in part, “The coaches, players, and team staff on the field tonight represent the best of the best in professional football, but they also embody the best of the American dream.”
Trump, who recently signed an executive order banning biological males from women’s sport, also said that the two teams “represent the hopes and dreams of our nation’s young athletes as we restore safety and fairness in sports and equal opportunities among their teams.”
The attendance of a president who has also signed an executive order “terminating radical DEI” coincided with a change in the words written in the end zone: “Choose love” now replaces “End racism,” an inscription that has been in place since the 2020 protests against the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white police officer.
#2. … and so was Taylor Swift, who was booed by the crowd
One year after she kissed Kelce on the field as his team celebrated their win, Swift was back at the Super Bowl to support her man once again. This time, however, she was greeted with boos by some in the crowd when she popped up on the jumbotron early in the game.
In footage shared by the NFL, Swift looks a little perplexed when she hears the crowd reaction. She seemed to “Shake It Off,” side-eyeing briefly before laughing a little uncomfortably, and possibly saying, “What is going on?” Serena Williams, also in attendance, quickly tweeted her support, writing “I love you … don’t listen to those boooo!![sic]”
Otherwise, Swift’s furrow-browed attention seems to have been firmly on the game, which was not going her boyfriend’s way: At halftime, the Chiefs were down 24 points to the Eagles, with Kelce not catching any balls.
Despite this kind of objection by some fans by the amount of camera time she gets when at games, it’s estimated that Swift has single-handedly made the NFL one billion dollars in brand equity and boosted ticket and merch sales, particularly among younger women, since she and Kelce started dating in 2023.
Her game day style for the occasion? A white Saint Lauren blazer, bedazzled shorts by Monday denim, and boots by Paris Texas, accessorized by a Givenchy bag in Chiefs red. She also re-wore the “T” necklace she wore at the Grammys last weekend, now almost certainly standing for “Travis,” not “Taylor.”
While some speculated that Swift might invite her friend Blake Lively, currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Justin Baldoni that has divided public opinion, to join her at the game in a show of support, she was actually joined by rapper Ice Spice, who guested on her single, “Karma” in 2023. (There’s lore here, too: Ice Spice was the subject of racist remarks by Matty Healy, The 1975 frontman and Swift’s then-love interest.) Her long-time friend, stylist and designer Ashley Avignone, was on her other side.
Other celebs in the crowd included Jon Hamm, who introduced the Chiefs as they ran on, Bradley Cooper, who did the same duty for the Eagles, Lady Gaga with rapper Doechi, Paul Rudd, Jay Z, and Tom Cruise narrating the opening montage.
#3. Kendrick Lamar played the halftime show
Fresh off winning big at the Grammys, Lamar’s halftime show was a predictably thoughtful mediation on “the American game,” all red, white, blue and social commentary, courtesy of Morgan Freeman as “your Uncle Sam,” interjecting throughout (“Do you really know how to play the game, Mr. Lamar? Tighten up.” “That’s what the people want.”)
On a stripped down stage, accompanied by dancers in the colours of the American flag, it was a minimalist spectacle, showcasing some of Lamar’s best-known songs: “HUMBLE,” “DNA,” and “TV off.” He was also joined by singer SZA for their two hit songs together, “Luther” and “All the Stars.”
The big moment of the night was the closing track, “Not Like Us,” Lamar’s Grammy-winning song that, by most metrics, “won” him his beef against Canadian rapper Drake. The crowd was heard loudly singing along when he got to the “A minor” line in the song, capping a lyrical takedown that accuses Drake of alleged pedophilia.
In what may also be a reference to that feud, “GAME OVER” was projected in lights as Lamar’s performance closed.
#4. The Super Bowl paid tribute to those killed in the New Year’s Day terror attack on Bourbon street
Before kickoff — and after a moment of silence for football matriarch Virginia McCaskey, who recently died at 102 — there was a pause to remember the fourteen people killed in a terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. Photographs of the victims, which included a New Orleans Saints football team member who had been scheduled to work the Super Bowl, were held by some of the first responders who had been on scene in the aftermath of the attack.
Trump also met with some of the families of those killed.
