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Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the annual league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February. Prior Super Bowls were played on Sundays in early to mid-January from 1967 to 1978, late January from 1979 to 2003,[a] and the first Sunday of February from 2004 to 2021. Winning teams are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the eponymous coach who won the first two Super Bowls. Because the NFL restricts use of its "Super Bowl" trademark, it is frequently referred to as the "big game" or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. The day that the game is held, is commonly referred to as "Super Bowl Sunday" or simply "Super Sunday".

For a list of Super Bowl games, see List of Super Bowl champions. For the latest Super Bowl game, see Super Bowl LVIII.

First played

The game was created as part of a 1966 merger agreement between the NFL and the competing American Football League (AFL) to have their 'best' teams compete for a championship. It was originally called the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the "Super Bowl" moniker was adopted in 1969's Super Bowl III. The first four Super Bowls from 1967 to 1970 were played prior to the merger, with the NFL and AFL each winning two. After the merger in 1970, the 10 AFL teams and 3 of the NFL teams formed the American Football Conference (AFC), while the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the National Football Conference (NFC). All games since 1971's Super Bowl V have been played between the best team from each of the two conferences, with the NFC tied with the AFC 29–29 in wins.


Among the NFL's current 32 teams, 20 (11 NFC, nine AFC) have won a Super Bowl and 15 (eight AFC, seven NFC) hold multiple titles. The AFC's Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl titles at six each. The Patriots also have the most Super Bowl appearances at 11.[1] Among NFC franchises, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers are tied for both the most titles at five each and the most appearances at eight each. The Patriots and the Denver Broncos of the AFC hold the record for the most defeats in the Super Bowl at five each. The Baltimore Ravens of the AFC and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFC are the only franchises to be undefeated in multiple Super Bowls, having each won two. Among the 12 teams who have not won a Super Bowl, the AFC's Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars, and the NFC's Detroit Lions are the only four to have not appeared in the game.


The Super Bowl is among the world's most-watched single sporting events and frequently commands the largest audience among all American broadcasts during the year. It is second only to the UEFA Champions League final as the most watched annual club sporting event worldwide,[2] and the seven most-watched broadcasts in American television history are Super Bowls.[3] Commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year because of the high viewership, leading to companies regularly developing their most expensive advertisements for the broadcast and commercial viewership becoming an integral part of the event. The Super Bowl is also the second-largest event for American food consumption, behind Thanksgiving dinner.[4]

Presentation of the Most Valuable Players, occurred every ten years since

1986

""

Lift Every Voice and Sing

presentation

Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award

""

America the Beautiful

Presentation of the Colors

"" followed by flyover

The Star-Spangled Banner

Coin Toss

Early Super Bowls featured a halftime show consisting of marching bands from local colleges or high schools; but as the popularity of the game increased, a trend where popular singers and musicians performed during its pre-game ceremonies and the halftime show, or simply sang the national anthem of the United States, "America the Beautiful" or "Lift Every Voice And Sing" emerged.[41]


The U.S. national anthem has been performed at all but one Super Bowl: Super Bowl XI in 1977 when Vikki Carr sang "America the Beautiful" in place of the anthem. Beginning with Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, "America the Beautiful" is sung before the national anthem every year and is followed by the presentation of the colors and a military flyover preceded the anthem. Beginning with Super Bowl LV in 2021, "Lift Every Voice And Sing" is sung prior to "America the Beautiful" in honor of Black History Month.


For many years, Whitney Houston's performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV in 1991, during the Gulf War, had long been regarded as one of the best renditions of the anthem in history.[42][43][44] Before Super Bowl XLVIII, soprano Renée Fleming became the first opera singer to perform the anthem.


Recently, the winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award has been acknowledged before "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner".


Since Super Bowl XII in 1978, a former football player, a celebrity, or another special guest participates in the coin toss ceremony to recognize their community involvement or significance.


The pre-game ceremonies usually go in the following order:


Unlike regular season or playoff games, thirty minutes are allocated for the Super Bowl halftime. After a special live episode of the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color caused a drop in viewership for the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show, the NFL sought to increase the Super Bowl's audience by hiring A-list talent to perform. They approached Michael Jackson, whose performance the following year drew higher figures than the game itself.[45][46] Another notable performance came during Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, when U2 performed; during their third song, "Where the Streets Have No Name", the band played under a large projection screen which scrolled through names of the victims of the September 11 attacks.


The halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII attracted controversy, following an incident in which Justin Timberlake removed a piece of Janet Jackson's top, briefly exposing one of her breasts before the broadcast quickly cut away from the shot. The incident led to fines being issued by the FCC (and a larger crackdown over "indecent" content broadcast on television), and MTV (then a sister to the game's broadcaster that year, CBS, under Viacom) being banned by the NFL from producing the Super Bowl halftime show in the future. In an effort to prevent a repeat of the incident, the NFL held a moratorium on Super Bowl halftime shows featuring pop performers, and instead invited a single, headlining veteran act, such as Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen. This practice ended at Super Bowl XLV, which returned to using current pop acts such as The Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga.[47][48]


Minnesota Vikings announcer Alan Roach is the official public address announcer of the Super Bowl since Super Bowl XL in 2006, with the exceptions of Super Bowl XLVIII, XLIX and 50 when the Denver Broncos played in those games. Roach was also Denver's regular P.A. announcer during those years, and thus the league felt it was a potential competitive advantage. In those years, NFL on Westwood One host and NFL Films voice Scott Graham held the duties.[49]


Excluding Super Bowl XXXIX, the famous "I'm going to Disney World!" advertising campaign took place in every Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXI in 1987, when quarterback Phil Simms from the Giants became the first player to say the tagline.

The host stadium must be in a market that hosts an NFL team and must have a minimum of 70,000 seats, with the media and electrical amenities necessary to produce the Super Bowl. Stadiums may include temporary seating for Super Bowls, but seating must be approved by the league. Stadiums where the average game day temperature is below 50 °F (10 °C) must either have a roof or a waiver given by the league. There must be a minimum of 35,000 parking spaces within one mile of the stadium.

The host stadium must have space for the Gameday Experience, a large pregame entertainment area, within walking distance of the stadium.

The host city must have space for the NFL Experience, the interactive football theme park which is operated the week before the Super Bowl. An indoor venue for the event must have a minimum of 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2), and an outdoor venue must have a minimum of 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2). Additionally, there must be space nearby for the Media Center, and space for all other events involved in the Super Bowl week, including golf courses and bowling alleys.

The necessary infrastructure must be in place around the stadium and other Super Bowl facilities, including parking, security, electrical needs, media needs, communication needs, and transportation needs.

There must be a minimum number of hotel spaces within one hour's drive of the stadium equaling 35% of the stadium's capacity, along with hotels for the teams, officials, media, and other dignitaries. (For Super Bowl XXXIX, the city of Jacksonville docked several luxury cruise liners at their port to act as temporary hotel space.)

[62]

There must be practice space of equal and comparable quality for both teams within a twenty-minute drive of the team hotels, and rehearsal space for all events within a reasonable distance to the stadium. The practice facilities must have one grass field and at least one field of the same surface as the host stadium.

The stadium must have a minimum of 70,000 fixed seats, including club and fixed suite seating, during regular season operations.

Super Bowl trademark[edit]

The NFL very actively seeks to prevent what it calls unauthorized commercial use of its trademarked terms "NFL", "Super Bowl", and "Super Bowl Sunday".[87] As a result, many events and promotions tied to the game, but not sanctioned by the NFL, are asked to refer to it as "The Big Game", or other generic descriptions.[88][89] A radio spot for Planters nuts parodied this, by saying "it would be super ... to have a bowl ... of Planters nuts while watching the big game!" and comedian Stephen Colbert began referring to the game in 2014 as the "Superb Owl". In 2015, the NFL filed opposition with the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to a trademark application submitted by an Arizona-based nonprofit for "Superb Owl".[90] The NFL claims that the use of the phrase "Super Bowl" implies an NFL affiliation, and on this basis the league asserts broad rights to restrict how the game may be shown publicly; for example, the league says Super Bowl showings are prohibited in churches or at other events that "promote a message", while non-sporting event venues are also prohibited to show the Super Bowl on any television screen larger than 55 inches.[91] Some critics say the NFL is exaggerating its ownership rights by stating that "any use is prohibited", as this contradicts the broad doctrine of fair use in the United States.[91] Legislation was proposed by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch in 2008 "to provide an exemption from exclusive rights in copyright for certain nonprofit organizations to display live football games", and "for other purposes".[92]


In 2004, the NFL started issuing cease-and-desist letters to casinos in Las Vegas that were hosting Super Bowl parties. "Super Bowl" is a registered trademark, owned by the NFL, and any other business using that name for profit-making ventures is in violation of federal law, according to the letters. In reaction to the letters, many Las Vegas resorts, rather than discontinue the popular and lucrative parties, started referring to them as "Big Game Parties".[93][94][95]


In 2006, the NFL made an attempt to trademark "The Big Game" as well; however, it withdrew the application in 2007 due to growing commercial and public relations opposition to the move, mostly from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley and their fans, as the Stanford Cardinal football and California Golden Bears football teams compete in the Big Game, which has been played since 1892 (28 years before the formation of the NFL and 75 years before Super Bowl I).[96] Additionally, the Mega Millions lottery game was known as The Big Game (then The Big Game Mega Millions) from 1996 to 2002.[97]

List of Super Bowl champions

History of National Football League championship

List of NFL champions (1920–1969)

List of Super Bowl broadcasters

List of Super Bowl head coaches

List of Super Bowl officials

List of Super Bowl records

the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game

Grey Cup

List of NFL franchise post-season droughts

List of NFL franchise post-season streaks

List of quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl starts

List of players with most Super Bowl championships

NFL Honors

Super Bowl advertising

Super Bowl counterprogramming

Super Bowl curse

Super Bowl indicator

. Time Inc. Home Entertainment. July 1, 2006. ISBN 1-933405-32-5.

2006 NFL Record and Fact Book

. HarperCollins. July 1, 2006. ISBN 1-933405-32-5.

Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League

The Sporting News Complete Super Bowl Book 1995. Sporting News. February 1995.  0-89204-523-X.

ISBN

The Super Bowl: An Official Retrospective with DVD. Ballantine Books. 2005.  0-345-48719-2.

ISBN

MacCambridge, Michael (2004). . Random House. ISBN 0-375-50454-0.

America's Game

Chris Jones (February 2, 2005). "NFL tightens restrictions on Super Bowl advertisements". Las Vegas Review-Journal.

John Branch (February 4, 2006). "Build It and They Will Come". The New York Times.

from USA Today. Retrieved September 28, 2005.

Super Bowl play-by-plays

by Kevin Jackson, Jeff Merron, and David Schoenfield; ESPN. Retrieved December 5, 2021.

100 Greatest Super Bowl Moments

Sports Illustrated, July 11, 2005, p. 114.

SI's 25 Lost Treasures

"The Super Bowl I–VII." Lost Treasures of NFL Films. ESPN2. January 26, 2001.

"MTV's Super Bowl Uncensored". MTV. January 27, 2001.

"Talk Shows." CBS: 50 Years from Television City. CBS. April 27, 2002.

Dee, Tommy (January 2007). . Maxim. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2007.

"Super Bowl Halftime Jinx"

Maher, Tod; Gill, Bob (September 2011). The Pro Football Playoff Encyclopedia. Maher Sports Media.  978-0-9835136-2-9.

ISBN

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