Last year, Rihanna and her viral halftime show performance won the social media Super Bowl—and this year’s social media spotlight similarly fell on pop stars: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Swift, of course, was in attendance to support her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce. Both the NFL and Swift’s massive fanbase closely tracked her actions throughout the game via social media, from her chugging a beer to her romantic post-game kiss with Kelce after his Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime. Beyoncé, meanwhile, sparked a social media frenzy with her announcement of a new album at the end of Verizon’s Super Bowl ad.
Swift and Beyoncé each drove more online discussions last night than any brand in the Big Game, with Swift amassing nearly 5.5 million engagements across social media and Beyoncé driving another 1.4 million, per social media analytics company Sprout Social.