Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game for the National Football League (NFL). It serves as the final game of the American football season in the United States.

This event is one of the top ten most-watched sporting events in the world. In American television history, the seven most-watched broadcasts are all Super Bowls. Because of this massive audience, the day is often called "Super Sunday."

Many non-sponsoring companies call it the "big game" to avoid trademark issues.

The game is the result of a merger between two rival leagues. In the 1960s, the NFL competed against the American Football League (AFL). They agreed to a merger in 1966 to have their best teams compete. Initially, the game was called the AFL–NFL World Championship Game.

Lamar Hunt, an owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, suggested the name "Super Bowl." The name became official by the third annual game in 1969.

Since 1971, the league has used Roman numerals to identify each game. This tradition was broken only once by Super Bowl 50 in 2016.

To understand the game, one must look at how the league is organized. After the 1970 merger, the teams were split into two conferences. The American Football Conference (AFC) contains 10 former AFL teams and three NFL teams. The National Football Conference (NFC) contains the remaining 13 NFL teams.

The champions of these two conferences meet in the Super Bowl. The winning team is awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy. This trophy honors the coach who won the first two Super Bowls.

The timing of the game has changed over several decades. From 1967 to 1978, it was played in early to mid-January. From 1979 to 2003, it moved to late January. Between 2004 and 2021, it was held on the first Sunday in February. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February.

This change follows a schedule expansion in the 2021 season. The game now occurs the week after the Pro Bowl.

Success in the Super Bowl is measured by championships and appearances. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots share the record with six wins each. The New England Patriots also hold the record for most appearances with twelve.

The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are unique franchises. They are the only teams to be undefeated in multiple Super Bowls. Conversely, twelve teams have never won a Super Bowl. Four of those teams, the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, and Cleveland Browns, have never even appeared in the game.

The Super Bowl is a massive cultural and economic event. It is the second-largest event for American food consumption, following Thanksgiving. The halftime shows feature top musical artists, which is a high honor.

Companies pay extremely high prices for commercial airtime during the broadcast. Because viewership is so high, these advertisements are often very unique.

This makes the commercials an integral part of the experience.

Historical dominance has shifted between teams and conferences. In the early years, the Green Bay Packers were very successful. They won the first two Super Bowls and led a stretch of five championships.

The AFL eventually proved its strength when the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. This victory changed the perception of the AFL's competitiveness. Today, the NFC holds a slight lead over the AFC in total victories, with counts listed as 29–27 or 31–29.