According to Taylor Swift, there is glitter (or, in this case, confetti) on the floor after the celebration. The Kansas City Chiefs won their second consecutive Super Bowl triumph after the 2024 game went into epic overtime – only the second time in history. The squad secured a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers courtesy to wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr., who grabbed Patrick Mahomes’ clinching touchdown pass.
Before the Game
The stands at Allegiant were packed with 49ers fans, who outnumbered Chiefs fans by a large margin. Thousands of spectators flocked to the stadium as early as 12:30 p.m. PST, and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was among the first to hit the field to warm up.
Clad in cleats, sweatpants, and a Chiefs sweatshirt, the game’s eventual MVP began his day by stretching while he picked up his phone, presumably skipping through songs until he found the one he was looking for and blasting it through his AirPods.
Just a minute later, he was tossing passes as other of his teammates joined him on the field, including Travis Kelce, who appeared for the first time at 1:09 p.m. in a long-sleeved red t-shirt, red shorts, and bright yellow cleats.
Around the same time, Post Malone was observed wandering around the stadium’s service level, a guitar strapped around his body. Andra Day arrived to the stadium in a golf cart just minutes later. Taylor Swift arrived at the stadium about 1:20 p.m. in a black motorcade with friends Blake Lively, Ashley Avignone, and Ice Spice, and the trio made their way to their box with the Kelce family around 10 minutes later.
Just shy of 2 p.m., the Chiefs had vacated the field, and some of the 49ers players took their turns practicing hiking the ball to their kicker, Jake Moody. By 2:25, the 49ers team was assembled on the field and in uniform, including members Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk.
Jay-Z even made an appearance on the field with his daughters Blue Ivy, 11, and Rumi, 6, who was eagerly skipping around her family. A few minutes later, Brittany Mahomes could be seen walking off the field with daughter Sterling in her arms while another woman carrying son Bronze trailed behind her, and her brother-in-law Jackson Mahomes took a selfie of the whole crew.
Cameron Heyward, who won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, delivered his remarks at 3 p.m., and Andra Day’s emotional performance of “Life Every Voice and Sing” followed. Then it was time to get both teams back on the field. The 49ers came out first, amid thunderous shouts inside the stadium, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs. There was some booing for the defending Super Bowl champions (the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in last year’s event), but there was also plenty of traditional yelling.
At 3:25, Post Malone sang “America the Beautiful,” followed by dozens of personnel swarming the field to spread out a massive American flag while Reba McEntire sang the national anthem. As she concluded, the audience switched the words from “home of the brave” to “home of the Chiefs.”
After Kick-Off
The crowd was studded with stars — Travis Scott and Taylor Swift were among the first to be shown on the jumbrotron inside the stadium. Scott flashed a bright white smile and a wave, while Swift immediately picked up her drink and chugged alongside pal Ashley Avignone, to equal parts cheering and booing from the audience.
At 4:48, Beyonce rolled into (or should we say, under) the stadium, where her arrival — which happened in a flash — was met with deafening screams of excitement from fans who just so happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Back inside the stadium, Beatles icon Paul McCartney was featured on the jumbotron before visiting Taylor Swift and meeting Ed Kelce in the Kelce suite, which continued to grow in popularity as Lana Del Ray was also sighted inside.
However, when the Chiefs scored their first field goal of the game at the end of the second quarter (and thus put their first three points on the board), there was no cheer from 49ers fans, who appeared to be content with their 7-point lead heading into Usher’s Apple Music halftime show.
Before the halftime performance, surprise halftime show artist H.E.R. sped past in a golf cart, beaming broadly and waving to the backup dancers who had begun to line up before mounting the stage with Usher. Minutes afterward, Alicia Keys drove backstage on a golf cart and waved to the performers. Prior to her performance, she looked to be holding a voice tool.
Then a massive army of workmen arrived on the field to erect the stage, which soon assumed a circular form. When Usher stripped down approximately halfway through his performance, the audience went crazy for the “Yeah!” shirtless moment.
In the third quarter, just shy of 6 p.m., resident football fan Kelly Clarkson was spotted twirling her braided hair and sitting next to Jimmy Kimmel — though when she realized she was on camera, she adorably tried to hide under her baseball cap before giving a good-natured wave.
A partial-streaker even made it onto the field, too. The man — who was without a shirt but wearing pants — ran across the turf towards the 30 yd. line and then toward the 10 yd. line, where he was tackled by a team of about six security officers and then quickly ushered off the field.
And then, just one quarter after San Francisco 49ers player Jake Moody kicked the longest field goal in Super Bowl history at 55 yds. the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker kicked a long one of his own, busting that record with a 57-yd. field goal to bring the score to 10 to 6. Though the 49ers were still in the lead, Chiefs fans celebrated nudging closer to an even score across the stadium, high-fiving and fist-bumping.
And, when wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught a touchdown thrown by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, giving the Chiefs their first lead in the game at 13-10, the stadium suddenly felt re-invigorated.
In between the third and fourth quarters, DJ Kaskade entertained the crowd, and Ariana Grande was spotted inside the stadium alongside her Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo as the game moved into what fans thought would be the final quarter.
With 40 seconds remaining in regulation, the stadium was on its feet as Kansas City scored another field goal to tie the game. Fans remained on their feet as the game went into overtime, and they stayed there until the Chiefs ultimately scored the winning touchdown — and the team and staff stormed the field in celebration.
The Chiefs Fought for Their Right
Las Vegas was in a celebratory mood following the game. Chiefs Kingdom celebrated their second consecutive Super Bowl victory with an after party at Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Tyga appeared at 12:55 a.m. to play classics such as “Rack City” — before F.L.Y performed “Swag Surfin'” and the entire room danced with their arms around each other. Travis worked his way around the club.
Following F.L.Y, Malone performed songs such as “Wow,” “Better Now,” and “Circles.” Swift was dancing to the performances during his set, accompanied by Travis. At one point, Brittany took the stage to replace Malone’s Cowboys jacket with a Chiefs jacket. Malone also brought out Quavo for a performance of their collaboration “Congratulations,” and Swift and Travis shared several sweet moments together.
After the party was over at Zouk, Swift, Travis, Brittany, Patrick, Jason, Keleigh Teller, Miles Teller, Lively and more made it over to XS Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas to keep the festivities going around 2:15 a.m. Upon their arrival, there was red and yellow confetti flying in the air and Queen’s “We Are the Champions” played over the loud speakers.
The group was placed in a VIP area behind the DJ booth where Marshmello was spinning popular tracks and the group jumped and danced in excitement. Later in the night, the DJ played a remix of Swift’s “Love Story” and everyone sang along, including her and Travis.
Around 4 a.m., Travis and Swift were tucked away in a corner and talking into each other’s ears as Swift caressed his face. Brittany and Patrick left the party around 3:30 a.m. and everyone else stayed until 5:15 a.m. after enjoying a delivery of chicken fingers and fries.
The Parties Raged on
Only a few steps away from XS was Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace Big Game After Party, which celebrated the release of Usher’s Coming Home album and was hosted by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.
Inside the party, which had a massive roller rink with roller skaters inside, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre took the stage around 12:30 to perform hits like “Ain’t It Fun,” “California Love” and “The Next Episode.” After their performance, Diplo took the stage for some beats and attendees were dancing and skating around the party.
Then, around 2:30 a.m., Usher showed up to the party in a black loungewear set and put his skates on. He was moving and grooving for about 30 min and then sat at a table to chat with friends. He left the party around 3:50 a.m.