FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - In an overtime thriller for the ages, the New England Patriots defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 37-31, in the AFC Championship on Sunday night to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LIII. The Patriots will make their third-straight appearance in the Super Bowl, their 11th in franchise history and 10th under Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft's 25 seasons of ownership.
As expected, the highly-anticipated Patriots-Chiefs rematch delivered massive television ratings, both locally and nationally. In the local Boston market, the Patriots produced a 58.5 household rating and 76 market share, which is the second-highest household rating in team history, trailing the Patriots' 61.0 rating in their Super Bowl XLIX win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Nationally, the CBS broadcast earned a 31.2 rating and 48 share, making it the highest-rated program on television since Super Bowl LII. It was also the highest-rated late-window conference championship game in seven years and marked a 26 percent increase in ratings over last year's comparable championship game window (24.7/38 rating/share; Minnesota-Philadelphia).
The Patriots will face the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on February 3. The game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on CBS. Jim Nantz will call the game, with Tony Romo handling color commentary and Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn and Jay Feely providing updates from the sidelines.
