The 2026 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks is forthcoming as the San Francisco Bay Area hosts its first Super Bowl in a decade at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.
Even though the championship is still veiled, one thing is apparent: fans know exactly where to park themselves on Feb. 8. Television networks treat the Super Bowl like the crown jewel of broadcasting (think Oscars-level drama but with more touchdowns and fewer sequins), and NBC is the lucky network this year.
Broadcaster and Announcers for Patriots-Seahawks
Broadcaster: NBC
Stream: Peacock
Play-by-play: Mike Tirico
Analysis: Cris Collinsworth
Sideline Reporters: Melissa Stark, Kaylee Hartung
Rules Analyst: Terry McAulay
A Detailed Look at the Broadcaster and Announcing Crew for Patriots-Seahawks
NBC will carry the torch for Super Bowl 60, broadcasting the game nationally on TV and streaming it on Peacock. The timing falls on the same month as the 2026 Winter Olympics, which NBC is also covering. This broadcast comes after the network swapped its normal Super Bowl rotation with Fox. The last time NBC hosted the Super Bowl was in 2022.
The announcing team reads like familiar comfort. Tirico, usually the steady voice taking viewers through Sunday Night Football, will call his first-ever Super Bowl. He’ll be joined by Collinsworth, returning for his fourth Super Bowl analysis, whose commentary has always been equal parts sharp insight and witty asides.
“Mike is a unicorn,” Rob Hyland, an NBC executive, said, via Variety. “I’ve never met anyone like him, and I don’t know if I’ll ever meet anyone like him again.”
The broadcast will also have three-time Super Bowl referee McAulay as rules analyst for those ‘wait, what just happened?’ moments.
Stark and Hartung will be experiencing the Super Bowl from the sidelines for the first time in their professional careers. Stark has been NBC’s eyes and ears on Sunday Night Football, while Hartung comes armed with her sharp reporting from Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football.
On the field itself, the Patriots are after their seventh Super Bowl title. Meanwhile, second-year quarterback Drake Maye is chasing an unbelievable year. On the other side, the Seahawks are writing their own resurgence, with Sam Darnold at center.
And while this contest feels new, it isn’t uncharted territory. Patriots and Seahawks fans remember the first time these teams faced off in the final game of the season. Super Bowl 49 is still legendary: New England clawed back from a ten-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and then Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception froze time itself, turning the impossible into a win.
Notes for Super Bowl 60 Matchup Between Seahawks-Patriots
- New England defeated the #1 (DEN), #2 (HOU), and #8 (LAC) ranked defenses on its way to winning the AFC.
- Seattle defeated the #1 (LAR) and #5 (SF) ranked offenses on its way to winning the NFC.
- The Patriots just two touchdowns and 26 points while forcing 8 turnovers during the playoffs. However, they have faced the 15th-ranked (DEN), 23rd-ranked (HOU), and 26th-ranked (LAC) offenses during that stretch.
- The Seahawks lead the league in third-down defense (32.3%), but they have allowed a 48% conversion rate on fourth down (T-7th). The Patriots rank 9th in third-down conversions allowed (36.9%) and 2nd on fourth down (33.3%).
- Seattle’s special teams have the second-best grade of the season with a 90.9 (A-), while New England is 20th (73.9 C-)
- Seattle has scored five special teams touchdowns, as well as blocking one punt and two field goals, while New England has scored three special teams touchdowns and has blocked one field goal
- The Patriots are one of eight teams to average under 40 net yards per punt. SEA has beaten two of the other seven teams in the last two weeks. NE (2nd; 37.7) and SEA (4th; 38.7) both rank in the top four when it comes to opponent net yards per punt.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba recorded a WRi score of 85.3 (B) against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game. It ranked 29th among players this season. In Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans, Smith-Njigba had the second-best score of the season with an 89.7 (B+). Only Puka Nacua’s 94.4 (A) WRi against Seattle in Week 16 was better.
- Smith-Njigba had the second-best season score (94.4, A), ranking seventh since 2019.
- Stefon Diggs had the fourth-best WRi score in the league after finishing 26th and 27th the last two seasons. Diggs’ score was the 39th best since 2019, and he has four of the top 48 season scores in that time frame.
- Drake Maye’s QBi of 97.8 (A+) against the Jets in Week 17 was the top individual game PFSN’s Quarterback Impact (QBi) performance over the past 18 seasons. Since 2000, only Peyton Manning’s 99.8 (A+) QBi against the Ravens in 2007 ranks higher in a single game.
- Sam Darnold registered five of his top eight career QBi scores this season (94 qualified games). Darnold’s QBi (90.8, A-) in Week 5 against Washington was his career best; it was also the 57th best score by any quarterback since 2000 (13,999 games).
- Mike Vrabel, with two touchdown receptions in Super Bowls, is tied for the seventh most career receiving touchdowns in Super Bowl games. Vrabel, who played over 200 career games as a linebacker, also recorded ten touchdown catches in the regular season.
- Seattle led the NFL with a +191 point differential this season, while New England was third at +170. This Super Bowl matchup marks the fifth time both teams entered with a regular-season point differential of at least +170. The other matchups were Super Bowl I (GB-KC), Super Bowl IV (KC-MIN), Super Bowl XIX (SF-MIA), and Super Bowl XLVIII (SEA-DEN).
- The Seahawks have yet to commit a turnover in the playoffs. Only 11 Super Bowl champions, including last season’s Eagles, have finished the postseason with just one turnover. Seattle is also among 17 teams in the Super Bowl era to play their first two playoff games without a turnover.
- The Seahawks’ DEFi score of 95.1 (A) against the Vikings in Week 13 ranked as the 12th-best individual PFSN’s Defense Impact game score across all NFL matchups since 2019 (out of 3,918 games).
- In nine Super Bowls with Belichick and Brady, the Patriots had a cumulative point differential of +14, including a 10-point victory in their final Super Bowl together.
- The Patriots’ 14 regular-season games against teams with a losing record are the most by a team in the Super Bowl. Washington, in the strike-shortened 1987 season, played 13 of 15 games against losing teams, including ones with replacement players. Seattle played nine such games this season.
