Ask any NFL fan and they will tell you that the Super Bowl is looked forward to all season long. Even if your team doesn't go, there's every chance you’ll get pretty excited about the Super Bowl, if you like professional football.
The Super Bowl is an NFL (National Football League) annual championship game. Since 1966, every NFL season ends with this final game. It has been played on the first February Sunday since 2004 and originally replaced the NFL Championship Game (in 1967). The Vince Lombardi trophy is awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl.
Here are some things that you may or may not have known about your beloved Super Bowl. They're perfect little tidbits of information for your next pregame party.
Teams and Super Bowls
Twenty of the NFL's 32 teams have won the Super Bowl. Nine of those were from the AFC and 11 from the NFC. Multiple Super Bowl titles are held by 14 teams. Six of them are NFC teams and eight of them are AFC teams. The most Super Bowls have been won by the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots (six for each team).
The record for the most defeats in Super Bowls is held by the Denver Broncos and, surprisingly, the Patriots! Five losses for each of them. Having won two each, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC) and the Baltimore Ravens (AFC) have each appeared in two Super Bowls and won both of them – so they’re sort of undefeated.
All of that means that no Super Bowl wins have been experienced by 12 teams. Of course, it's hard to win if you can't even get to the Super Bowl, which is the case for the Detroit Lions (NFC) and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, and Cleveland Browns (AFC).
Super Bowl Balls
A total of 108 footballs are received by each team that plays in the Super Bowl. Half are for the actual game and half are for practice. Typically, 120 balls are used in any Super Bowl. Kicking plays or kicker footballs account for the extras.
Big Money For the Big Game
It's not cheap, getting to the Super Bowl. Just a couple of years ago, for Super Bowl LIII tickets, some people paid approximately $4650.
That's a big difference from the average six-dollar ticket back in 1967, for the very first Super Bowl. The 30,000 empty seats that year were evidence that even a reasonable six dollars was too much back in the day!
Traveling in Style
For the week prior to the Super Bowl, a loaner car is given to every game player, just for driving around. Super Bowl Indianapolis Colts champion Marlon Jackson reportedly drove an Escalade for the week preceding Super Bowl XLI.
Super Bowl Halftime Performers
At recent past Super Bowls, neither Beyoncé, nor Bruno Mars, nor Jennifer Lopez got paid a dime for their performance. Here's the thing about that: Compared to the game, the ratings for half time are usually higher. So, the exposure a celebrity gets from performing is worth millions upon millions of dollars – even though they don't get actual cash.
Super Bowls and Snacks
What do you suppose the most popular food is for Super Bowl consumption? Pulled pork sandwiches rate very highly, as do chips and salsa. But one appetizer stands alone. At the next Super Bowl, it is anticipated that approximately 1.2 billion chicken wings will be consumed in the time immediately before, during, and after.