What’s happening?
The biggest game of the year in US sports takes place on Sunday.
This year’s Super Bowl – or Super Bowl LIX for NFL brand evangelists and fans of Roman numerals – will be between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
You may be familiar with the Chiefs’ body of work: this is their fifth Super Bowl appearance in six seasons, and a victory would be their third championship in a row, something no NFL team has achieved before. In short, they’re really good.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are in their third Super Bowl in seven seasons, thanks in large part to the genius-level intellect of their general manager, Howie Roseman. In short, they’re also really good.
When is kick-off?
The game starts on Sunday, February 9th at 5.30pm local time in New Orleans, which is 11.30pm Irish time.
Where can I watch or stream it?
Unsurprisingly, the game is sold out but tickets are on resale for as, ahem, little as $2,800 (€2,700).
A slightly cheaper option is watching it on TV. Fox is this year’s broadcaster in the US, with the main analyst being Tom Brady, who won seven Super Bowls himself during his playing career.
[ Tom Brady’s TV career so far has been a dud. Will that change in the Super Bowl?Opens in new window ]
Here at home, the game will be shown live on Virgin Media Two (coverage starting at 10.45pm Irish time) as well as ITV1 and Sky Sports.
Where will the game be played?
The Caesars Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints, will host the game.
The NFL tends to choose warm weather cities as hosts to avoid fans freezing during the game. But northern cities do occasionally get the Super Bowl – the distinctly untropical Minneapolis was given the nod in 2018 – but in those cases they’re nearly always played at indoor stadiums.
Do teams ever play the Super Bowl in their own stadium?
Host cities are chosen years in advance, so while teams can end up playing in their own stadium, it’s rare.
Only two teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams, have won the Super Bowl in their own stadium.
Right now, the Saints are what NFL experts refer to as a Very Bad Team – they did not make the playoffs this season.
Which celebrities will be at the game?
Just in case you’re one of the eight people on the planet who don’t know this, Chiefs star Travis Kelce is Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. She’ll almost certainly be at the game, and the cameras will cut to her every 39 seconds or so.
Last year, some on the US right believed the game would be fixed to ensure a Chiefs/Kelce/Swift victory in order to give Joe Biden an advantage in the presidential election. The conspiracy did not quite work out as planned.
In other good-looking people news, Bradley Cooper is a hard-core Eagles fan and is more than likely to be at the game. Paul Rudd, a long-time Chiefs fan, was at last year’s game and is likely to attend this year too. But there are a lot of complimentary tickets to the Super Bowl, so expect plenty more celebs.
So the game will unite a divided US?
Yeah ... sure. Donald Trump is set to become the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl.
And because we haven’t heard enough from him of late, he’ll sit down for a no doubt measured and conciliatory interview that will be broadcast before the game on Fox.
What kind of reception will Trump get?
Trump is a big sports fan. He has been cheered at college football games but was booed and greeted with chants of “lock him up” when he appeared at the 2019 World Series in his first term as US president.
The Super Bowl will be played in a Democratic city in a Republican state in front of fans from all over the US, so the most likely reaction is cheers and boos when he appears on screen.
Somewhat surprisingly, given that Trump once wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on social media, Kelce says it will be an honour to play in front of the president.
Will this affect the rumoured proposal Kelce has prepared for Swift after the game? It may! Although Kelce pushed back on those rumours earlier in the week when he was asked if he intended to give Swift a ring after the game. “A Super Bowl ring? Next question,” he replied.
Who are the players to watch?
The Chiefs have the best player on the planet, Patrick Mahomes, at quarterback. A win on Sunday would be his fourth Super Bowl title, putting him on track to break Tom Brady’s record of seven and threaten the former Patriots star as the greatest quarterback of all time.
Mahomes does not roll out as many breathtaking throws as he once did, but the 29-year-old nearly always makes the right decision and is best when the pressure is on, which is pretty useful in the biggest game of the season. The Chiefs also have a brilliant defence, masterminded by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
The Eagles are led by running back Saquon Barkley, who joined them from their rivals, the New York Giants in the off-season, and promptly had one of the best rushing seasons of all time. The Eagles also have a formidable defence and arguably the deepest and best roster in the entire NFL.
Who is doing the half-time show?
Bad news for Drake if he wants to watch: Kendrick Lamar will be performing at half-time (he also appeared at the 2022 Super Bowl). Louisiana native Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem.
Who is the favourite to win the Super Bowl?
The Chiefs are the betting favourites, which is not a huge surprise considering they’re the two-time reigning champs, have been to seven straight AFC Championships, won nine straight AFC west division titles and have lost just twice all season. But they also won a lot of tight games they could easily have lost, although some point out the fact that they do so with monotonous regularity shows they’re good rather than lucky.
The Eagles also have a deeper roster, which gives them the edge for many pundits. – Guardian
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to the Counter Ruck podcast for the best rugby chat and analysis
