Two of the NFL’s modern-day dynasties will meet in Super Bowl LVIII as the league will likely look to a certain pop icon to help pursue another viewership record.

The San Francisco 49ers, playing in their fourth NFC Championship Game in five seasons, clinched the conference title with a 34-31 win late Sunday over the upstart Detroit Lions. The 49ers will face the Kansas City Chiefs, who won their fourth AFC title in five years with a 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens and extended a historic run of success over the past six seasons, taking it to new heights of popularity this year thanks to tight end Travis Kelce’s romantic relationship with pop star Taylor Swift. 

“One of the things I think [the team] is best at is being consistent, no matter what’s going on,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said after Sunday’s game. “That’s an important message when you’re being successful, but it’s even more important, I think, when things aren’t working for you.”

The NFL will now head to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the first Super Bowl held in the sports industry boom town. Thanks to additional viewers likely to be attracted to the game by the Chiefs’ connection to Swift—who has attended each of the team’s three playoff games but faces a far greater logistical challenge for Super Bowl LVIII—the league will look to beat last year’s record-setting average audience of 115.1 million viewers.

The Feb. 11 game will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, won four years ago by Kansas City. The matchup will have a strong viewership foundation fortified by a banner campaign that included growth in the regular season and then the wild card and divisional playoff rounds, with more bullish totals expected for Sunday’s conference title games. 

Taylor Swift has become a staple of Kansas City Chiefs games this season, supporting her boyfriend Travis Kelce. But as Kelce heads toward the season’s biggest game, it’s unclear whether Swift will be in attendance, because she plays a concert the night before—halfway across the world.

The superstar resumes her Eras Tour on Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome, playing a four-night stint in Japan. Just as she scheduled shows on the U.S. leg of the tour, Swift has several days of downtime before her next set the following weekend in Melbourne, Australia.

If Swift were to hop on a plane immediately following her final show in Japan, she would arrive around dinnertime on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The math: Las Vegas is 17 hours behind Tokyo, and the flight takes upwards of 12 hours.

That leaves plenty of time before a 3:30 p.m. kickoff in Las Vegas the next day—and time to return to Australia by Friday.

The long flights might be less of an issue than the time zone changes. The Super Bowl starts at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning Tokyo time. To backpedal 17 hours then quickly advance 19 hours within the same week would be quite the feat, much less playing multiple concerts on both ends. But history suggests she’s physically capable. Her concerts span more than three hours, without significant breaks or intermissions, and she prepared for the current tour by singing the entire set list on a treadmill daily, running for upbeat songs and lowering to a jog or speed walk for the slower ones.

LIV Golf is making its way to Mexico this week for its season-opening event, which tees off on Friday at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba.

Entering its third season, the controversial league with financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has made waves this winter, most notably with the signing of Jon Rahm, ranked No. 3 in the world, at a reported cost of more than $500 million. Just four days before Rahm hits the course, the 2023 Masters champion still hasn’t announced which LIV team he’ll play for—a key component of the tour. But off the course, LIV is facing even more questions:

Can Jon Rahm attract new viewers?

The CW is returning for its second season as LIV’s U.S. broadcast partner. How many people watched in 2023, though, is a little unclear. After initially reporting viewership figures using data from iSpotTV, as opposed to Nielsen (the industry standard for audience measurement), LIV stopped releasing ratings altogether following its sixth tournament. Some broadcasts were drawing fewer than 200,000 viewers late in the season, according to Sports Media Watch. But now LIV has one of golf’s top stars in Rahm. Through two seasons, big names like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson didn’t appear to move the needle, but perhaps having Rahm will be different. 

Will a looming PGA Tour-PIF deal interrupt the season?

The PIF, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour are still working toward a deal to unify pro golf after missing the Dec. 31 deadline to reach a definitive agreement. LIV’s regular season is scheduled to run until August, followed by two postseason events. So, there is a strong possibility that any official deal would come during that time frame. While it is possible that some LIV players could be allowed back at PGA Tour events this year, if a deal was struck, conventional wisdom says that any major changes would not come until 2025.

Can LIV get world rankings points?

All of LIV’s efforts thus far to secure accreditation from the Official World Golf Ranking board have failed. Players who were once safely inside the top 50 and 100 are now plummeting down the rankings, and that’s creating what would be the smallest Masters field in decades. But there is turnover happening with the OWGR (two key spots from Europe are changing hands), and a deal with the PGA Tour could help LIV events secure rankings points even sooner.

Will LIV land Anthony Kim?

Former U.S. Ryder Cup team member Anthony Kim, who last played pro golf in 2012, is reportedly mulling a comeback, despite an insurance policy worth an estimated $10 million that would be voided if he returned to competition. Kim has “spent the last few months in discussions with the PGA Tour, LIV and potential sponsors,” sources told Golf.com. Kim would no doubt bring a welcome spotlight to LIV, if they signed him.