Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the big championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. It brings together the best teams from two groups to decide who is the best in football for that year. Since 2022, the Super Bowl is played on the second Sunday in February, but it used to be held on different Sundays in January and February before that.

The Super Bowl started in 1967 as a way to settle things between two football leagues, the NFL and the American Football League (AFL). This was part of a plan to merge the two leagues together. After they joined, teams were split into two new groups, and they compete every year to reach the Super Bowl.

Winning the Super Bowl is a huge deal. The team that wins gets a special trophy called the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after a famous coach. Many famous teams have won the Super Bowl many times, like the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots.

The Super Bowl is not just about football. It is one of the biggest TV events every year, with millions of people watching. It has amazing music shows during the breaks and companies pay a lot to show their ads because so many people are watching. People also eat a lot of food on Super Bowl Sunday, making it a big event for eating and celebrating, just like Thanksgiving dinner.

Origin

Since the early 1900s, college football teams in the United States have played special games called "bowl games." The first one was the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, which began in 1902. Over time, more bowl games were created in cities like Miami, New Orleans, El Paso, and Dallas.

In 1960, a new league called the American Football League (AFL) started and competed with the NFL. The idea of a big championship game between the two leagues' winners was suggested. In the 1960s, Lamar Hunt, who owned a team in the AFL, first called this game the "Super Bowl" because his kids played with a Super Ball toy. The name caught on, and soon everyone was using it. Today, each Super Bowl is identified by Roman numerals, like Super Bowl I, Super Bowl II, and so on.

The Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls. Then, in a big surprise, the New York Jets beat a strong NFL team in Super Bowl III. After that, the Kansas City Chiefs also won against an NFL team in Super Bowl IV. Since 1970, the NFL has had two groups, and the winners of these groups play in the Super Bowl. The winning team gets the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the coach who led the Packers to those early wins.

Game history

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. It has been the final game of every NFL season since 1966. Before that, it also served as the final game of the American Football League season from 1966 to 1970. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February.

The NFL season starts right after Labor Day in September. It includes 18 weeks of regular games, followed by three weeks of playoff games and one week for the Pro Bowl. The Super Bowl is played the week after the Pro Bowl. This schedule has been used since 2021 when an extra week and game were added to the regular season. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots share the record for the most Super Bowl wins, each with six victories.

Television coverage and ratings

See also: List of most watched television broadcasts in the United States

The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched sports events in the world. Most of the viewers are from the United States, but many people around the globe also watch. For years, the Super Bowl has been the most-watched TV show in the United States each year. The game usually has a very high TV rating, meaning that more than 100 million people in the U.S. watch it.

The NFL says the Super Bowl could have up to one billion viewers in over 200 countries, but this means the number of people who could watch, not how many actually do. One Super Bowl had about 93 million viewers worldwide, with most of them in North America.

The Super Bowl with the most viewers was Super Bowl LIX, with 127.7 million people watching in the U.S. That made it the most-watched TV show ever in American history.

Famous Super Bowl commercials include the first ad for Apple's Macintosh computer in 1984, Budweiser's "Bud Bowl" ads, and many ads from the dot-com era. Because so many people watch the Super Bowl, commercials cost a lot — up to $7 million for a 30-second spot in 2022. Some people watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials.

Since 1991, the Super Bowl has started between 6:19 and 6:40 PM Eastern Standard Time so that most of the game is shown during prime time on the East Coast.

US television rights

See also: List of Super Bowl broadcasters and NFL on television

Most of the time, the Super Bowl is shown on the same TV networks that broadcast NFL games during the regular season.

The first Super Bowl in 1967 was shown by two networks at the same time, NBC and CBS, because at that time NBC had the rights to show AFL games and CBS had the rights to show NFL games.

Starting with Super Bowl II, NBC showed the game in even years and CBS in odd years. This continued until 1970 when the AFL and NFL merged. ABC started showing the Super Bowl in 1985. Fox joined in 1994, and the rotation continued between these networks. In 2006, NBC took over Monday Night Football from ABC, and the rotation changed again.

Since Super Bowl LVIII, a four-network rotation began, including CBS, Fox, NBC, and ABC. This allows each network to show special versions of the game on their other channels. For example, Nickelodeon, which is owned by CBS, showed a special children’s version of Super Bowl LVIII.

Sometimes the NFL changes the usual rotation to help other big events a network is showing. For example, CBS showed Super Bowl XXVI in 1992 because they also showed the Winter Olympics that year.

The first six Super Bowls were not shown in the host city's area because of league rules at the time. Super Bowl VII in 1973 was shown in Los Angeles for the first time because all the tickets had sold out ten days before the game.

Note: Years listed are the year the game was actually played rather than what NFL season it is considered to have been.

Lead-out programming

See also: List of Super Bowl lead-out programs

The Super Bowl helps the TV network show more viewers for the shows that come after it. For example, after Super Bowl XLVII, a paid program that aired at 2:30 in the morning had good ratings.

Because of this, the network that shows the Super Bowl often uses the big audience to show a popular show or a new show right after the game and the post-game coverage.

Ceremonies and entertainment

See also: List of national anthem performers at the Super Bowl and List of Super Bowl halftime shows

Early Super Bowls had simple halftime shows with marching bands from schools. As the game grew more popular, famous singers and musicians began performing during the pre-game and halftime shows, or singing special songs like the national anthem.

The U.S. national anthem has been sung at almost every Super Bowl. One exception was Super Bowl XI in 1977, when another song was performed instead. Recently, more songs have been added before the national anthem to honor special occasions.

Halftime shows have featured many famous performers. Some shows have been remembered for many years, while others have caused discussions about what is appropriate to show on television. The halftime show is longer than regular games, giving more time for exciting performances.

Venues

The Super Bowl is the big championship game for the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. It has been the final game of each NFL season since 1966. Before that, it was also the final game for the American Football League from 1966 to 1970. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February.

The Caesars Superdome has hosted eight Super Bowls in New Orleans, and Hard Rock Stadium has hosted six in the Miami area. By Super Bowl LX, 30 of the 60 Super Bowls were held in three areas: Miami (eleven times), New Orleans (eleven times), and Los Angeles (eight times). Only cities with NFL teams can host the Super Bowl. For example, Los Angeles didn’t host from 1995 to 2016 because its NFL teams had moved away, but they returned in 2016 and 2017.

Some Super Bowls were held in stadiums that weren’t the main home stadium for the city’s NFL team at the time. This happened until Super Bowl XXVII. For example, Los Angeles often used the Rose Bowl instead of its team’s usual stadium. Now, the NFL prefers to use brand new or recently updated stadiums for the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl trademark

The NFL works hard to protect its trademarks, including the words "NFL", "Super Bowl", and "Super Bowl Sunday". Because of this, many events not approved by the NFL are asked to call the game "The Big Game" or use other general names. For example, a radio ad for Planters nuts once said it would be great to have a bowl of Planters nuts while watching "the big game!" Comedian Stephen Colbert started calling the game the "Superb Owl" in 2014.

The NFL says using "Super Bowl" means you are connected to them, and they have the right to control how and where the game is shown. They have said it can’t be shown in churches or at events that share messages, and they have rules about screen sizes in non-sports places. Some people think the NFL is claiming too much control. In 2008, a senator from Utah suggested a law to let some nonprofit groups show the games. The NFL has also asked casinos in Las Vegas to stop calling their Super Bowl parties by that name, so many now call them "Big Game Parties".

Traditions

Over the years, the Super Bowl has developed many fun traditions. One special tradition is using Roman numerals to name each Super Bowl, like Super Bowl V or Super Bowl 50. This makes each game feel unique and memorable.

Another big tradition is the commercials shown during the game. Millions of people watch the Super Bowl at the same time, and the ads have become famous for being creative and funny. They even show how popular culture changes over time. The cost of these ads has gone up a lot over the years, showing just how many people want to be part of this big event.

Since President George W. Bush, each U.S. President has done an interview before the Super Bowl. These interviews used to mostly talk about football, but in recent years they sometimes talk about other important topics too.