Peacock reaped the rewards of landing the exclusive rights for Saturday’s Chiefs vs Dolphins game, with the streaming service flying straight to the top of the app store while doubling its record search volume.
Kansas City cruised to a 26-7 win over Miami in freezing conditions at Arrowhead, where temperatures fell as low as -30 with wind chill as Travis Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift watched on from her box in the stadium.
Saturday night’s playoff game was shown exclusively on Peacock, who forked out a staggering $110million back in May to secure streaming rights for the primetime Wild Card Round fixture.
And according to entrepreneur and investor Joe Pompliano, the media company was rewarded with a record spike in search volume as the Chiefs kept their Super Bowl bid alive.
Peacock reaped the rewards of landing the $110m rights for the Chiefs vs Dolphins game
Taylor Swift was in attendance as Kansas City prevailed 26-7 at Arrowhead on Saturday night
As of Sunday morning, Peacock stood tall at the very top of Apple’s App Store, while their search volume on Google was also double its previous record.
The video giant’s huge outlay on the exclusive streaming rights was therefore justified, although a number of fans were left seething at having to pay a subscription fee to watch the playoff game.
Several viewers also complained of technical problems during the broadcast, while the amount of cutaways to Swift in the stands irked die-hard supporters as usual.
The pop sensation, who has attended a number of Chiefs fixtures this season amid her whirlwind romance with Kelce, was seen dancing alongside his mom Donna and fellow WAG Brittany Mahomes during Kansas City’s playoff win on Saturday.
Swift’s return to Kansas City came amid reports that she was in for a frosty reunion with Kelce after having their first major argument over Christmas.
But she appeared to be full of support for her man and even wore a custom-made Chiefs puffer jacket that was covered in his name and Chiefs No. 87.
According to a bombshell report by Life & Style earlier on Saturday, Kelce ‘snapped’ at Swift on Christmas Day as the pair clashed following the defeat.
The NFL star is said to have let his emotions get the better of him after the defeat at Arrowhead Stadium, which left his girlfriend feeling ‘hurt and confused’. During the loss, he was also seen throwing his helmet down in fury on the sidelines.
Swift was back at Arrowhead to support boyfriend Travis Kelce, despite reports that the pair had their first argument on Christmas Day
Amid reports of his spat with Swift, Kelce was seen with a stony look on his face earlier on Saturday in exclusive photos from Dailymail.com as he left the Chiefs’ hotel ahead.
A source is quoted as saying that the row ruined his and Taylor’s holidays given it was their first fight in five months together.
According to coaching legend Tony Dungy, Swift’s viral appearances at NFL games is leaving fans ‘disenchanted’ with the sport.
When asked by Fox News for his thoughts on the Swift frenzy in football right now, the 68-year-old said: ‘That’s the thing that’s disenchanting people with sports now, there’s so much on the outside coming in – entertainment value and different things.
‘It’s taking away from what really happens on the field.’