After six months of weekly battles, the entire nation has their eyes glued to the screen for the big one. Celebrities flock towards their fancy suites, and reporters, photographers and videographers fight for a chance to get on the field. Whether it’s because of the millions of dollars spent on commercials or the biggest halftime concert of the year, or of course, the big game, everyone knows the Super Bowl. And for the 59th edition, it’s time.
It all started in 1967 with the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowls to kick off the NFL’s annual tradition of AFC vs. NFC. Not long after came the 70’s Steelers, winners of four Super Bowls. The 80’s and 90’s brought in the 49ers with five. Then Bill Belichick and Tom Brady started the 21st Century with six rings for the Patriots. Today, football is dominated by the Kansas City Chiefs, who have picked up three Super Bowls in the 2020’s alone. This year, they’re back in it. With their fifth Super Bowl appearance in the past six years, the Chiefs are set to face the Philadelphia Eagles in football’s biggest show.
Today’s modern Super Bowl has come a long way from its origins. In 1967, for Super Bowl I, a ticket into the game cost just $12. The league featured only half of the number of teams, and the Chiefs had only been a franchise for seven years. Today, getting a seat at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans will cost a fan at least $6,000, and the Chiefs are looking for their fifth Lombardi trophy. After 58 Super Bowls however, one thing has never changed. No team has ever won three straight—even the greatest teams in NFL history, like Bradshaw’s Steelers and Brady’s Patriots, couldn’t win three in a row. But this year, Kansas City is just 60 minutes away from making some history of their own.
Not everything is about the Chiefs, however— the champions from the NFC are no stranger to the Super Bowl either. Just two years ago, the Eagles matched up with the Chiefs, and lost a heartbreaker that came down to the final play. This year, they’ve got a newfound X-Factor: Saquon Barkley has the fifth-highest yards per game total in NFL playoff history this season, as the potential Offensive Player of the Year has been completely impossible to stop this season. After a 55-point explosion in the NFC Championship game against the Commanders, the Eagles could be the team to take down the Chief empire.
Over the years, the Super Bowl has been a financial and visual success for the NFL. Nearly every year, the Super Bowl tops American television viewership charts. The Super Bowl is such a consistent television giant in large part from its marketing strategies, like Super Bowl commercials and halftime shows. In recent years, the NFL has successfully drawn megastars like Michael Jackson, Prince, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and Shakira to perform in their halftime show. This year, Super Bowl LIX will feature a performance by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA.
For the Chiefs, this serves as opportunity for them to be cemented as one the great American sports dynasties, surpassing the Bill Walsh 49ers and tying the Chuck Noll Steelers. For the Eagles this is a chance at revenge for a Super Bowl loss just 2 year olds and to bring home the first title of the Nick Sirianni era. Super Bowl, a game of revenge, a game featuring some of the most talented rosters of the 2020’s kicks off this Sunday.
