29 Jan 10 2019 SUPER BOWL FUN FACTS
Everyone knows that the Super Bowl is the biggest game of the year. But there’s a lot even the biggest football fan may not have heard about the big game. Here are craziest and most interesting Super Bowl facts to keep you going until kickoff.
1- According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture,
Super Bowl Sunday is America’s “second-largest food consumption day.” (Only Thanksgiving Day beats it.)
2- The priciest tickets to Super Bowl I, which was played on January 15, 1967, cost $12. Adjusted for inflation, that’s the equivalent of about $89 today. And even at that bargain price, the event still didn’t sell out. If you’re thinking about buying tickets for this year’s event, you’d better be prepared to shell out at least $3200 per ticket (at press time).
3- A 30-second Super Bowl ad will cost more than $5 million in 2019. That’s on par with the going rate for the past two years, Ad Week reports. Break that number down and companies are paying more than $166,000 per second. The most expensive Super Bowl ad of all time? A $12.4 million ad by Chrysler in 2011.
4-The Super Bowl Coin flip uses a special coin. Each game gets it own unique coin crafted by the Highland Mint. The front of the coin features the Lombardi Trophy along with the helmets of the two teams playing. Super fans can purchase a replica coin after the game.
5-In 1983, 105.97 million people tuned in to the final episode of M*A*S*H, making it the most-watched TV broadcast in American history. It took more than a quarter-century, but in February 2010, Super Bowl XLIV finally broke that record when 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts. Subsequent Super Bowls have broken even that record, with Super Bowl XLIX—which was played on February 1, 2015—currently holding the top spot, with 114.4 million viewers on average.
6-No sitting president has ever attended a Super Bowl. However, four sitting vice presidents—
Spiro Agnew, George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, and Mike Pence— have made Big Game appearances.
7-Super Bowl bonuses are a thing. In 2018, every player on the Eagles championship roster earned $112,000 for winning. The defeated Patriots received $56,000 each as a consolation prize.
8-Halftime performers don’t get paid a penny. Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and even Beyoncé didn’t get paid a single dime to perform at past Super Bowls. But don’t feel too badly for them. Although they don’t get actual cash, the exposure can be worth tens of millions of dollars, and often the halftime show scores higher ratings than the actual game. In 1993, Michael Jackson’s halftime performance had higher ratings than the game itself.
9-The trophy is Tiffany. The seven-pound Vince Lombardi Trophy is named after Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi who lead the Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls. The sterling silver trophy is designed and manufactured by Tiffany & Co. is made every year (unlike, say, the Stanley Cup) and is worth around $50,000.
10- Athletes Are Paid to Plug Disney. The first athlete to utter “I’m going to Disney World!” in the wake of a triumphant Super Bowl performance was Phil Simms, reportedly paid $75,000 for the insta-plug in the moments after he was named MVP of the 1987 game.