From the sidelines
Marty Gordon
The Super Bowl is this weekend if you didn’t know it.
But in so many ways, the big game has lost its shine and is no longer relevant. Most people don’t even pay attention to the game itself, instead turning the elaborate television commercials. But those have lost their luster too, as many have already been seen thanks to social media.
The game just isn’t as relevant as it used to be.
Some fun facts surrounding the Super Bowl:
The trophy was named after the late coach Vince Lombardi of the two-time Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers before the 1971 Super Bowl.
The Vince Lombardi trophy, which goes to the winner, stands 20 3/4 inches tall, weighs 6.7 pounds and is valued more than $25,000.
According to the National Chicken Council, Americans will consume more than 100 million pounds of chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday alone. For those playing along at home, that’s more than 1.25 BILLION individual wings.
16.2 million Americans plan to watch the game at a bar or restaurant.
12 NFL franchises have never won a Super Bowl (The Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars have never been).
18.8 million people will miss work the day after the Super Bowl.
Alicia Keys clocked in at two minutes 35 seconds during Super Bowl XLVII in singing the longest National Anthem. The average length is about one minute and 50 seconds.
There has been a Super Bowl every year since the event began in 1967.
In 1970, Carol Channing became the first singer to perform at a Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The very first Super Bowl ticket in 1967 cost $12.
There has never been a shutout in a Super Bowl.
Fox Sports sold 30-second commercials costing more than $7 million each for last year’s Super Bowl, the most expensive Super Bowl ad price in NFL history.
Last year, fans wagered more than $16 billion on the game, more than double the $7.61 billion that was wagered in 2022, says the American Gaming Association.
In 2024 the winners will pocket $157,000 apiece – up from $150,000 last year. Each member of the Super Bowl losing team will receive some extra cash: $82, 000 each – up from $75,000 in 2023.
Each team is given 108 footballs to use during the course of the game, 54 of which are to be used during practice and 54 to be used during the game itself.
Halftime performers at the Super Bowl do not get paid for their performance.
The majority of quarterbacks in Super Bowl history come from the same 11 colleges. Notre Dame, Stanford, and Michigan were tied for the most alumni featured in the Super Bowl as of 2017.
Both QB’s are wearing the number “9.”
There’s only been one player named Super Bowl MVP who didn’t actually play on the winning team. That was Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley way back in Super Bowl V.
The New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos have lost the most Super Bowls with five a piece.
Super Bowl XLIX (49) – Seattle Seahawks vs. the New England Patriots was the most-watched sporting event in U.S. history. 114,442,000 people.
The NFL has a policy against holding Super Bowl games in stadiums that have a climate of less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, unless it is an enclosed stadium.
Prediction for the big game, Kansas City 29, San Francisco 24.
