WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.600 Welcome to the Deep Dive. This is where we take 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:05.080 these huge cultural things and really break them 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:08.160 down. You know, the history, the money, the kind 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:11.320 of weird logistics behind it all. Exactly. And 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.960 today we're tackling a giant. Yeah. The Super 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.500 Bowl. It basically stops the entire U .S. every 00:00:17.500 --> 00:00:19.699 year. It really does. And the sources we've got 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:23.929 today. Wow. It's a huge stack. decades of history, 00:00:24.109 --> 00:00:27.550 viewership numbers that are just staggering and 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.710 all the rules about where and how this game even 00:00:30.710 --> 00:00:32.810 gets played. Right. So our mission today, it 00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:34.649 isn't just about, you know, who won or lost. 00:00:34.729 --> 00:00:36.789 We want to understand how this game, the NFL 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:38.670 championship that took over from the old NFL 00:00:38.670 --> 00:00:41.549 championship game back in 66, how it became this. 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:45.179 This national holiday almost, this global thing. 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.380 It's a really dense topic, absolutely. But the 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:49.100 history is just, it's fascinating. So many twists 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.359 and turns people don't realize. Okay, so let's 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:52.920 start with something that really shows how much 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:54.820 the league's changed, the actual date of the 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:56.539 game. It hasn't always been when it is now, right? 00:00:56.659 --> 00:00:59.039 No, not at all. It's a great way to see how the 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.219 schedule has stretched out. If you look back 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:05.859 at the very beginning, say 1967 up to about 1978, 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:09.299 the Super Bowl was way earlier, like first or 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:12.390 second week of January. Wow, January. Seems early 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:14.709 now. Doesn't it? Then, yeah, the season got a 00:01:14.709 --> 00:01:17.390 bit longer, so it shifted. Late January became 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:20.329 the norm from 79 all the way through 2003. Okay. 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:23.390 And then for a long time, like nearly 20 years, 00:01:23.549 --> 00:01:27.250 2004 to 2021. We all got used to it being that 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:29.609 first Sunday in February. That felt like the 00:01:29.609 --> 00:01:31.769 spot. That was the tradition for a good while. 00:01:31.930 --> 00:01:33.969 But then, you know, the league expanded the season 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:36.650 again. Added that 17th regular season game. Right. 00:01:36.709 --> 00:01:38.670 That changed everything. It really did. The whole 00:01:38.670 --> 00:01:41.810 calendar had to shift. So since the 2022 season, 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:43.590 the Super Bowl got bumped back another week. 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:46.609 Now it's officially the second Sunday in February. 00:01:46.829 --> 00:01:49.069 So that small change, just one week, it actually 00:01:49.069 --> 00:01:51.030 tells you a lot about the league's growth and 00:01:51.030 --> 00:01:53.049 how much longer the season is now. Exactly. It's 00:01:53.049 --> 00:01:56.590 a direct reflection. OK, let's rewind. Mid -60s. 00:01:56.670 --> 00:01:58.870 How did this whole thing even start? Because 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:00.790 it wasn't some grand design, was it? It was more 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:03.909 like a necessity. That's the perfect word. It 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:06.310 was born out of this really bitter business fight. 00:02:06.409 --> 00:02:08.930 Right. You had the NFL, the established league, 00:02:09.009 --> 00:02:12.210 right? And then comes the AFL, the American Football 00:02:12.210 --> 00:02:15.150 League. Started in 1960. And they were competing 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:18.469 hard. Oh, yeah. Directly for players, for fans. 00:02:18.569 --> 00:02:20.669 It was driving up salaries. Costs were exploding 00:02:20.669 --> 00:02:23.250 for everybody. The only real way to stop that 00:02:23.250 --> 00:02:26.219 financial drain was... Well, they had to merge. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.240 So the 66 merger agreement, that basically forced 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:31.460 their hand. They needed one big championship 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:33.900 game. Pretty much pit the, you know, the best 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:36.039 team from the NFL against the best from the AFL. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.300 Yeah. But the official name back then was a mouthful. 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:41.360 The AFL -NFL World Championship Game. Right. 00:02:41.419 --> 00:02:43.879 Not exactly catchy. Not at all. They played four 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:45.840 games under that name before the whole league 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:48.819 structure really merged in 1970. And that merge 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:51.599 agreement, that's what created the AFC and NFC 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:53.860 we have today. OK, break that down. How did the 00:02:53.860 --> 00:02:57.219 teams get split? So the 10 original AFL teams 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:59.599 plus three NFL teams that agreed to switch over, 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:01.939 that was the Colts, the Steelers, and the Browns, 00:03:01.939 --> 00:03:04.240 they became the new American Football Conference, 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.199 the AFC. Gotcha. So the AFC has that AFL heritage. 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:10.680 Exactly. And then the other 13 NFL teams that 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:12.580 were left, they formed the National Football 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:15.599 Conference, the NFC. So ever since Super Bowl 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:19.460 V, which was 1971, it's been the AFC champ versus 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:22.550 the NFC champ. And that rivalry conference versus 00:03:22.550 --> 00:03:25.250 conference, it's still super close, isn't it? 00:03:25.389 --> 00:03:27.870 Incredibly close. If you look at the wins, the 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:30.990 NFC, which kind of inherited the old NFL line, 00:03:31.110 --> 00:03:34.270 they've won 30 times. The AFC, the AFL successor, 00:03:34.689 --> 00:03:37.169 they've won 29. It's almost perfectly balanced 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:39.050 after all these decades. That's amazing. Now, 00:03:39.110 --> 00:03:41.810 the name. Super Bowl. The league didn't even 00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:43.710 like it at first, did they? This is a great story. 00:03:43.810 --> 00:03:46.090 It's fantastic. The name came from Lamar Hunt. 00:03:46.229 --> 00:03:48.530 He owned the Kansas City Chiefs, was a huge player 00:03:48.530 --> 00:03:50.689 in getting the merger done. And he just needed 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:53.370 a shorthand way to refer to this new championship 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:55.330 game in his notes, you know. And the inspiration 00:03:55.330 --> 00:03:57.530 wasn't some high -level marketing meeting. No, 00:03:57.530 --> 00:04:00.949 definitely not. It was his kids. They were playing 00:04:00.949 --> 00:04:03.050 with this really popular toy back then called 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:06.310 a Super Bowl, just a bouncy rubber ball. So the 00:04:06.310 --> 00:04:09.110 name of this massive billion dollar event came 00:04:09.110 --> 00:04:11.789 from a kid's bouncy ball. Isn't that unbelievable? 00:04:12.009 --> 00:04:14.090 And Hunt himself was almost embarrassed by it. 00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:16.370 He wrote this letter to the NFL commissioner, 00:04:16.509 --> 00:04:20.029 Pete Rozelle, back in July 66. And he actually 00:04:20.029 --> 00:04:23.410 said, let me get the quote right. I have kiddingly 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:26.069 called it the Super Bowl, which obviously can 00:04:26.069 --> 00:04:28.430 be improved upon. He apologized for it. He did. 00:04:28.509 --> 00:04:31.879 But the media. They heard Super Bowl and thought, 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.379 yeah, that's way better than NFL World Championship 00:04:34.379 --> 00:04:36.899 game. They ran with it immediately. And it just 00:04:36.899 --> 00:04:39.720 stuck. Instantly. By the time Super Bowl III 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:42.300 came around in 1969, the league had no choice, 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:44.579 really. They just made it official. And then 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:47.300 there's the Roman numerals. That adds a certain 00:04:47.300 --> 00:04:49.040 weight to it, doesn't it? Why did they start 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:50.779 doing that? It really does give it that sense 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.579 of history. Like, it's timeless. They officially 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:55.720 started using Roman numerals with Super Bowl 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:00.389 V in 1971. It helps avoid confusion, too, because 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:02.230 the game is played in the calendar year after 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:05.629 the season it crowns. So Super Bowl V was for 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:09.189 the 1970 season, but played in 71. Right. That 00:05:09.189 --> 00:05:10.990 makes sense. But they did drop it once, didn't 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:13.769 they? Yeah, for Super Bowl 50. That was in 2016. 00:05:14.490 --> 00:05:17.069 They used the regular number 50. Marketing decision 00:05:17.069 --> 00:05:20.529 probably looked cleaner. But, you know, tradition 00:05:20.529 --> 00:05:22.509 won out. People missed the Roman numeral, so 00:05:22.509 --> 00:05:24.129 they went right back to L .I. the next year. 00:05:24.230 --> 00:05:26.649 And the trophy itself, the Vince Lombardi trophy. 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:29.360 That naming also tells a story about the early 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.319 days, right? Definitely. Lombardi, the legendary 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:34.560 Packers coach, won the first two Super Bowls. 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:37.259 But the trophy wasn't named after him immediately. 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:40.600 That only happened after he sadly passed away 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.920 in September 1970. So the first time it was actually 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.439 awarded as the Lombardi trophy was for Super 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:48.459 Bowl V. And those first couple of games were 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:50.519 pretty tense for the league, weren't they? Because 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:53.060 the Packers just dominated. Oh, yeah. Lombardi's 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:55.240 Packers won Super Bowl I and II pretty easily. 00:05:56.540 --> 00:05:59.399 There was real fear that the AFL just wasn't 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:01.920 on the same level. People were questioning if 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:03.620 the merger would even work, if the competition 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:05.220 was real. The whole thing could have fizzled. 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:08.160 It could have. But then came the AFL pushback. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.120 Super Bowl III, Joe Namath famously guarantees 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.399 a win for his New York Jets, an AFL team, against 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.519 the Baltimore Colts, who were huge favorites, 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.839 like 19 .5 points. And the Jets won. They won. 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:23.759 And then the very next year, Lamar Hunt's Kansas 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.949 City Chiefs. Another AFL team won Super Bowl 00:06:26.949 --> 00:06:29.829 four. Those two wins back to back were absolutely 00:06:29.829 --> 00:06:32.589 crucial. They proved the AFL could hang, that 00:06:32.589 --> 00:06:34.689 the leagues were competitive. It basically saved 00:06:34.689 --> 00:06:36.509 the merger right as it was becoming official 00:06:36.509 --> 00:06:39.129 in 1970. OK, so the foundation is set. Let's 00:06:39.129 --> 00:06:41.350 walk through the decades now. How did the balance 00:06:41.350 --> 00:06:43.490 of power shift? Starting with those first four 00:06:43.490 --> 00:06:45.610 games, the late 60s. Right. Super Bowl is one 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:48.170 through four. This is really about the NFL trying 00:06:48.170 --> 00:06:50.769 to assert dominance and the AFL trying to prove 00:06:50.769 --> 00:06:53.089 it belonged. The Packers under Lombardi, they 00:06:53.089 --> 00:06:55.629 were the NFL's dynasty, won the first two, like 00:06:55.629 --> 00:06:59.189 we said. Bart Starr, the QB, got MVP twice. It 00:06:59.189 --> 00:07:01.050 capped off this incredible run for Green Bay 00:07:01.050 --> 00:07:03.509 five titles in seven years if you include their 00:07:03.509 --> 00:07:05.610 pre -Super Bowl NFL championships. But the game 00:07:05.610 --> 00:07:07.910 changer was Super Bowl III, Namath's guarantee. 00:07:08.659 --> 00:07:11.300 Absolutely seismic. The Jets beating the Colts 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:14.639 16 -7. It wasn't just an upset, it changed the 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.379 whole perception of the AFL overnight. It validated 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:20.579 the league, validated the merger. Truly a pivotal 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:22.480 moment in football history. Okay, moving into 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.019 the 70s, Super Bowls V through 14. What defined 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:29.379 this decade? Dynasties. This is where we see 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:32.180 teams really stringing wins together. But it 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:36.519 started weirdly. Super Bowl V 1971. Chuck Howley, 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:39.139 a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys. They lost 00:07:39.139 --> 00:07:41.439 the game, but he won the MVP. Seriously? The 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.480 only time that's ever happened? The only time 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.779 ever. Still stands. Bizarre. Wow. And then Kim 00:07:46.779 --> 00:07:49.480 Perfection. The 72 Miami Dolphins. Yeah. The 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:51.720 perfect season. 17 wins, zero losses, regular 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:53.959 season and playoffs combined. Won Super Bowl 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:56.240 VII. Still the only team in the Super Bowl era 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.060 to go completely undefeated all the way through. 00:07:58.220 --> 00:07:59.500 And they won again the next year too, right? 00:07:59.579 --> 00:08:02.120 Super Bowl VIII. They did. Back to back. An amazing 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.459 short -lived dynasty. But the real dynasty of 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:08.199 the 70s. That was Pittsburgh. Steelers, the steel 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:11.540 curtain. Exactly. Coach Chuck Knoll, QB Terry 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:13.759 Bradshaw, running back Franco Harris, and that 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.579 defense, legendary. They won four Super Bowls 00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:20.360 in just six years. 9, X, 13th, and 14th. First 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:23.920 team to do that. And that 1974 draft class they 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.339 had? It's still talked about? Oh, it's maybe 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:28.959 the best single draft class ever. In one draft, 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:30.819 they picked four guys who ended up in the Hall 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:33.559 of Fame. Lin Swan, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:35.919 Mike Webster. And then they signed Donnie Schell, 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.820 another Hall of Famer, as an undrafted free agent 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:40.700 that same year. Insane talent acquisition. Incredible. 00:08:40.759 --> 00:08:42.539 But while the Steelers were racking up rings, 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:44.440 there was another team having a very different 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:48.100 70s Super Bowl experience. Ah, yes. The poor 00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:50.820 Minnesota Vikings. They went to four Super Bowls 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:54.100 in that decade, 4 -8 INX and CS7, and they lost 00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:56.860 every single one. Ouch. Four losses, no wins. 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:59.399 That's tough. Brutal. Set an early standard for 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:02.250 Super Bowl heartbreak. OK, so if the 70s saw 00:09:02.250 --> 00:09:04.750 the rise of AFC powers like the Dolphins and 00:09:04.750 --> 00:09:07.590 Steelers, the 80s and 90s flipped the script 00:09:07.590 --> 00:09:10.029 completely, right? This was the NFC's time. Oh, 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:12.330 absolutely. Total domination. Yeah. Across those 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:15.669 two decades, the NFC won 16 out of 20 Super Bowls. 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:19.710 16. And get this. There was a stretch where they 00:09:19.710 --> 00:09:23.610 won 13 games in a row from Super Bowl XLX all 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:27.909 the way through. 13 straight wins for one conference. 00:09:28.009 --> 00:09:30.049 That's unbelievable. It really is. And it started 00:09:30.049 --> 00:09:32.929 with the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh, the 00:09:32.929 --> 00:09:35.929 coach, Joe Montana at QB, Jerry Rice at receiver. 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:38.799 The West Coast offense, they changed the game. 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:40.960 How many did they win in the 80s? Four titles, 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.100 just in the 80s. Montana won MVP three times. 00:09:44.379 --> 00:09:46.740 And their win in Super Bowl X is 40 against the 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:49.860 Broncos. 55 -10. Still the biggest blowout ever 00:09:49.860 --> 00:09:51.740 in a Super Bowl. Just total dominance. But it 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:53.539 wasn't just the Niners, right? Other NFC teams 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:55.320 were strong, too. Yeah, yeah. Some iconic teams. 00:09:55.379 --> 00:09:57.519 The 85 Chicago Bears, maybe one of those famous 00:09:57.519 --> 00:09:59.820 teams ever, went 18 -1. Just dominant defense. 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:01.899 And then you had the Washington Redskins and 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:03.639 the New York Giants winning multiple titles, 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.700 too. Often with different quarterbacks, which 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:07.389 showed real... organizational depth. So who broke 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:09.990 up this NFC party? Anyone from the AFC win during 00:10:09.990 --> 00:10:12.649 that stretch? Only the Raiders. They managed 00:10:12.649 --> 00:10:15.830 to win Super Bowl XVIII. They were the only AFC 00:10:15.830 --> 00:10:18.250 team to hoist the trophy during that dominant 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:21.769 NFC run in the 80s. Okay, then the 90s. The NFC 00:10:21.769 --> 00:10:24.350 streak continues. Yep. Led by the Dallas Cowboys 00:10:24.350 --> 00:10:27.129 this time. The triplets era. Troy Aikman at QB. 00:10:27.450 --> 00:10:29.850 Emmitt Smith running the ball. Michael Irvin 00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:32.190 at receiver. They won three titles in four years. 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:37.059 XC7, XD8, and XASX. Another dynasty. But we have 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:39.059 to talk about the flip side of the 90s dynasty 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:42.220 coin. The Buffalo Bills. Oh, the Bills. It's 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:44.059 just painful to even talk about. They made it 00:10:44.059 --> 00:10:46.360 to four Super Bowls in a row. Four consecutive 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:50.100 appearances from X6V to XE8. An incredible achievement. 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:52.379 And lost all four. Lost all four. It's a record 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:54.639 nobody wants. Just absolutely heartbreaking for 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:56.960 that team and city. Unprecedented. So when did 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.440 this epic NFC winning streak finally end? Late 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:02.500 90s. Super Bowl XXII, the Dindra Broncos, led 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:04.399 by John Elway, finally broke through for the 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:06.440 AFC, and then Elway won again the next year's 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:08.799 Super Bowl XXIII and retired on top. That really 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:11.059 marked the turning point. And set the stage for 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:14.139 the 2000s and 2010s, the AFC resurgence, largely 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:16.409 thanks to one team. The New England Patriots. 00:11:16.429 --> 00:11:18.850 Absolutely. Under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, 00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:21.450 they just took over. Won three titles in four 00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:24.389 years, right at the start of the 2000s. Eck E6, 00:11:24.629 --> 00:11:28.389 XA6, XX89, matched what the 90s Cowboys did. 00:11:28.629 --> 00:11:31.370 Brady got his first MVP in a Dick XA6. And the 00:11:31.370 --> 00:11:33.950 AFC quarterback play during this era was just... 00:11:34.670 --> 00:11:37.169 It's astonishing when you look at it from 2001 00:11:37.169 --> 00:11:40.149 through the 2018 season. Think about this. In 00:11:40.149 --> 00:11:43.370 15 out of those 17 Super Bowls, the starting 00:11:43.370 --> 00:11:45.870 quarterback for the AFC team was either Tom Brady, 00:11:46.029 --> 00:11:49.190 Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning. 15 out 00:11:49.190 --> 00:11:52.230 of 17. That's wow. Generational talent concentrated 00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:54.450 in one conference. Unbelievable dominance at 00:11:54.450 --> 00:11:56.649 the QB position. Even the Patriots dynasty had 00:11:56.649 --> 00:11:58.659 its kryptonite, right? They did. The New York 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:01.840 Giants, led by Eli Manning, they beat the Patriots 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:04.080 twice in the Super Bowl. The most famous one, 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:07.279 of course, was Super Bowl XL2, ruining the Patriots' 00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:10.700 perfect 18 -0 season. That 2007 Patriots team 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:12.820 was statistically dominant, maybe the best ever, 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:14.720 and the Giants pulled off one of the biggest 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.919 upsets in sports history. Those games were classics. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.279 The 2010s also had some memorable moments, let's 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:22.639 say, like the blackout game. Oh, yeah. Super 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:27.159 Bowl XL7 in New Orleans. The Harbaugh Bowl, brothers 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.740 coaching against each other, Ravens versus 49ers. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.580 Great game, but everyone remembered the power 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:35.039 outage. Lights went out in the Superdome for 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.440 34 minutes. Did that actually change the game? 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:39.919 Maybe. The Ravens were rolling, then the lights 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:43.240 go out. The 49ers regrouped, made a huge comeback 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:45.500 attempt after the delay, but fell just short. 00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:47.860 The blackout became the story. And then there's 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:50.480 the scoreline everyone knows, 28 -3. Super Bowl 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.330 LI. 2017. Atlanta Falcons versus the Patriots. 00:12:54.769 --> 00:12:57.309 Falcons are up 28 -3 late in the third quarter. 00:12:57.610 --> 00:12:59.590 Looked totally over. And then Brady happened. 00:12:59.769 --> 00:13:01.610 And then Brady happened. The Patriots peeled 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:03.429 off the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:06.409 Erased that 25 -point deficit, forced the first 00:13:06.409 --> 00:13:09.070 -ever Super Bowl overtime, and won. Just cemented 00:13:09.070 --> 00:13:11.509 Brady's legacy. Unbelievable game. The end of 00:13:11.509 --> 00:13:13.289 that decade had some weird scoring contrasts 00:13:13.289 --> 00:13:14.850 too, right? Yeah, it was kind of funny. Super 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:17.149 Bowl, LII, the Eagles beat the Patriots. The 00:13:17.149 --> 00:13:19.289 Patriots scored 33 points in the loss, which 00:13:19.289 --> 00:13:20.750 was the highest score ever for a losing team. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.759 team at that time. OK, high scoring loss. Then 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.500 the next year. Totally opposite. Super Bowl healthy. 00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:29.360 Patriots beat the Rams 13 to 3. Lowest scoring 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.639 Super Bowl ever. A real defensive grind. And 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:33.360 Brady got his sixth ring in that one, right? 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:35.840 Yeah. Age 41. Yep. Oldest player to win a Super 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.360 Bowl MVP. And Belichick at 66 became the oldest 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:41.539 coach to win. Really capped off their dominant 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.779 era. Which brings us to now, the 2020s. And it 00:13:44.779 --> 00:13:46.799 feels like we're already in the middle of another 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.399 potential dynasty. The Kansas City Chiefs, for 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.240 sure. Patrick Mahomes. They won Super Bowl as 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.799 a fee, broke their 50 -year drought. And that 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:56.720 win was actually significant. Historically, it 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.899 tied the AFC and NFC for total Super Bowl wins, 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.539 27 each at the time, for the first time since 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:05.480 way back in 1991. Wow. Leveled the score. Then 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:07.679 the pandemic year, Super Bowl LV, that was unique, 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:10.019 too. Totally unique. Tom Brady, now with the 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:12.220 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leads them to victory in 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:14.120 their home stadium in Tampa. First time that 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.019 ever happened, a team winning at home. First 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:18.159 time a team played and won in their home stadium 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.000 in the modern era. Required some rule tweaks 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.360 even to make it possible. And Brady got his seventh 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.639 ring, winning at age 43. Just keeps breaking 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:26.779 his own records. And since then, it's been pretty 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:28.779 much all Chiefs, hasn't it? They've been dominant. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.120 Four Super Bowl appearances in the last five 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.720 years. Won three of them, Liverin, Thilvery, 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:36.200 and Doley eighth. They won back -to -back in 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:38.919 22 and 23. The first team to do that since the 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:42.480 Patriots, back in 03 -04. Until this past year, 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:45.720 Super Bowl LAX. Right. The Eagles got their revenge 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.320 for the El Rey loss, beat the Chiefs 40 -22, 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:50.919 stopped Kansas City from getting that historic 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.549 three -peat. But still. For Mahomes, that was 00:14:54.549 --> 00:14:56.909 his fifth Super Bowl appearance in just six years. 00:14:57.190 --> 00:14:59.730 That kind of run puts you in the all -time great 00:14:59.730 --> 00:15:02.250 conversation immediately. Okay, let's dive into 00:15:02.250 --> 00:15:03.889 the record books. Some of these numbers are just 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:05.470 mind -blowing when you look at team success. 00:15:06.009 --> 00:15:08.750 Who's at the top for wins? It's a tie right now. 00:15:08.830 --> 00:15:11.289 The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots 00:15:11.289 --> 00:15:13.629 both have six Lombardi trophies, six wins each. 00:15:13.789 --> 00:15:15.909 But who's been there the most often? That's the 00:15:15.909 --> 00:15:18.269 Patriots. They've made it to the Super Bowl 11 00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:22.399 times, most appearances by far. 11 times. Incredible 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.559 consistency. Any teams that are perfect when 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:28.059 they get there. There are two, actually, with 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:30.360 multiple appearances. The Baltimore Ravens and 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.360 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both are 2 -0 in Super 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:37.080 Bowls. Perfect record. Nice. Now the other side. 00:15:38.770 --> 00:15:40.669 Teams that have never even made it. That's got 00:15:40.669 --> 00:15:43.950 to sting. Yeah, there are four current NFL franchises 00:15:43.950 --> 00:15:45.950 that have never played in a Super Bowl. That's 00:15:45.950 --> 00:15:48.549 the Cleveland Browns, the Detroit Lions, the 00:15:48.549 --> 00:15:50.789 Houston Texans, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. 00:15:50.889 --> 00:15:53.299 Now, important context for the... Browns and 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:55.539 Lions, right? They won championships before the 00:15:55.539 --> 00:15:58.919 Super Bowl existed. Exactly. Both have pre -1966 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:01.000 NFL titles, so they have championship history, 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:04.100 just not Super Bowl history. The Texans and Jaguars 00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:06.460 are younger expansion teams, still trying to 00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:08.500 reach that peak. Okay, what about individuals? 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:10.419 Who holds the records there? The coaching record 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:12.519 is probably untouchable. Bill Belichick, he has 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:15.240 eight Super Bowl rings total. Eight. That's from 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:17.200 nine appearances as the Patriots head coach, 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:19.559 plus he won rings as an assistant coach with 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:21.500 the Giants earlier in his career. Just amazing. 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:24.379 And the player record has to be Brady. It is. 00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:27.299 Tom Brady. Ten Super Bowl starts, seven wins. 00:16:27.379 --> 00:16:29.399 Yeah. Those numbers just seem impossible to beat. 00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:31.639 Anyone else notable for multiple wins, not a 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:34.440 quarterback? Yeah, Charles Haley. Defensive end, 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:36.399 played for the 49ers and Cowboys during their 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.659 dynasty years. He ended up with five Super Bowl 00:16:39.659 --> 00:16:43.679 rings. Most for a non -QB. Five rings. Wow. OK, 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:45.840 now the records nobody really wants. Most losses. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.000 That's another tie, actually. The New England 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.200 Patriots and the Denver Broncos are tied for 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.519 the most Super Bowl defeats with five losses 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:54.799 each. So the Patriots have the most appearances. 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:58.259 A and D are tied for the most losses. High highs, 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:00.679 low lows. Exactly. And then you have those infamous 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.120 losing streaks we mentioned. The Minnesota Vikings, 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:05.359 the first team to lose four without winning any. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:08.380 And of course, the Buffalo Bills. Losing four 00:17:08.380 --> 00:17:10.940 straight, that's just a uniquely painful record 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:12.980 in sports history. All right, let's shift gears. 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:16.339 Because the Super Bowl, it's more than just the 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:18.599 game on the field, isn't it? The whole cultural 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:20.980 event around it, the commercials, the halftime, 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.380 sometimes that feels even bigger. Oh, absolutely. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:26.119 The scale is just hard to wrap your head around. 00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:30.059 Globally, it's huge, second only to the UEFA 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:32.400 Champions League final for most -watched annual 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:36.079 club sporting event. But here in the U .S., nothing 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.509 even comes close. Like, the most watched TV shows 00:17:39.509 --> 00:17:42.950 ever. Get this. The seven most watched television 00:17:42.950 --> 00:17:45.869 broadcasts in American history are all Super 00:17:45.869 --> 00:17:48.470 Bowls. All seven. That's insane. What were the 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:50.089 numbers for the last one? Super Bowl -eloped. 00:17:50.250 --> 00:17:52.869 Record -breaking. Average U .S. viewers, 123 00:17:52.869 --> 00:17:57.299 .7 million people. Just staggering. And it's 00:17:57.299 --> 00:17:58.960 not just the game, the halftime show for that 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.319 same Super Bowl. It pulled in 129 .2 million 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.779 viewers. More people watched halftime than the 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:07.240 game average. Wow. So the show is a bigger draw 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.039 than the game itself for some people. It seems 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:11.039 so. Now, technically, the highest rated game, 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:12.559 meaning the percentage of households watching, 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:16.140 was way back in 1982, Super Bowl X66. That game 00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:18.819 reached 49 .1 % of all American homes with a 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:20.920 TV. Almost half the country watching one thing. 00:18:21.019 --> 00:18:23.099 And that massive captive audience. That's why 00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:24.980 the commercials cost so much, right? Exactly. 00:18:25.369 --> 00:18:27.170 It's the most expensive advertising time of the 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:30.170 year, period. We saw spots hitting, what, $7 00:18:30.170 --> 00:18:33.150 million for just 30 seconds during Super Bowl 00:18:33.150 --> 00:18:36.390 LVI? $7 million for 30 seconds. Incredible. And 00:18:36.390 --> 00:18:38.049 here's the kicker that proves your point about 00:18:38.049 --> 00:18:40.549 the spectacle. Nielsen actually reported back 00:18:40.549 --> 00:18:44.309 in 2010 that 51 % of viewers tune in specifically 00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:46.970 for the commercials. More than half the audience 00:18:46.970 --> 00:18:49.049 is there for the ads. They're not just something 00:18:49.049 --> 00:18:50.609 to sit through. They're part of the main event 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:52.450 for a lot of people. And we remember the iconic 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:55.869 ones, don't we? Like the Apple 1984 ad introducing 00:18:55.869 --> 00:18:59.509 the Macintosh or those Budweiser Bud Bowl campaigns. 00:18:59.829 --> 00:19:02.269 They become cultural touchstones. They really 00:19:02.269 --> 00:19:04.029 do. They're aiming for that water cooler talk 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.789 the next day. It's become its own sort of creative 00:19:06.789 --> 00:19:09.200 competition. And the halftime show. is the ultimate 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.180 example of that commercial evolution. It wasn't 00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:15.019 always this massive pop star concert, was it? 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:17.380 Oh, definitely not. In the early Super Bowls, 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:20.039 halftime was very traditional, like college games. 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:22.740 You'd see local college marching bands, high 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:25.480 school bands sometimes, very low -key, relatively 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:28.259 speaking. So what changed? When did it become 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:32.279 Michael Jackson and Prince and Beyonce? The turning 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:36.230 point was Super Bowl X66 back in 92. Another 00:19:36.230 --> 00:19:38.869 network, Fox I think it was, decided to try and 00:19:38.869 --> 00:19:42.130 steal viewers during halftime. They aired a special 00:19:42.130 --> 00:19:45.089 live episode of the comedy show In Living Color. 00:19:45.250 --> 00:19:47.269 Seriously? They counter -programmed the Super 00:19:47.269 --> 00:19:50.130 Bowl halftime? They did. And it worked. A significant 00:19:50.130 --> 00:19:52.049 number of viewers actually switched channels 00:19:52.049 --> 00:19:55.289 during halftime. The NFL ratings took a noticeable 00:19:55.289 --> 00:19:58.069 dip during the break. Uh -oh. The NFL must have 00:19:58.069 --> 00:20:00.410 panicked. Big time. They saw those numbers and 00:20:00.410 --> 00:20:02.210 realized they couldn't just put marching bands 00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:04.900 out there anymore. They needed huge stars to 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:07.359 keep people glued to the screen. So the very 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:10.099 next year, Super Bowl X -7, they booked Michael 00:20:10.099 --> 00:20:11.940 Jackson. And his performance was huge, right? 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:15.039 Massive. Reportedly drew even higher ratings 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.319 than the game itself. That set the standard. 00:20:17.660 --> 00:20:20.920 From then on, it was A -list global superstars 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:24.059 only for halftime. But that strategy hit a snag 00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:26.519 too, didn't it? The infamous wardrobe malfunction. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:32.200 Ah, yes. Super Bowl XXVIII, 2004. Justin Timberlake 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:35.299 and Janet Jackson performing. The incident at 00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:38.799 the end caused a massive controversy. Huge FCC 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:41.400 fines were levied. And the NFL reacted pretty 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.480 strongly. Very strongly. They got scared off 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:45.500 pop music for a while. There's this sort of unofficial 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:48.160 moratorium. For the next several years, they 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.390 booked older, safer. veteran rock acts. Paul 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:55.130 McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Prince, Tom Petty, 00:20:55.170 --> 00:20:57.609 Bruce Springsteen, The Who. Right, I remember 00:20:57.609 --> 00:21:00.069 that run of classic rockers. Exactly, but he 00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:02.670 played it safe until things cooled down. Finally 00:21:02.670 --> 00:21:05.089 going back to contemporary pop acts around Super 00:21:05.089 --> 00:21:07.730 Bowl XLV with the Black Eyed Peas. It showed 00:21:07.730 --> 00:21:09.549 how sensitive the league is to controlling the 00:21:09.549 --> 00:21:12.180 narrative and avoiding controversy. OK, before 00:21:12.180 --> 00:21:13.960 the game even kicks off, there's a whole pregame 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:15.720 ritual now, too. What does that involve? It's 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:17.579 pretty structured these days. Usually starts 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:20.940 with presenting past Super Bowl MVPs. Then since 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:24.019 2021, they've included Lift Every Voice and Sing. 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:27.039 After that, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.599 Year Award is presented. Then usually America 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.700 the Beautiful, followed by the National Anthem. 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:34.559 And the anthem performance itself can be a huge 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.640 moment. Whitney Houston. Oh, Whitney at Super 00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:42.819 Bowl XXV in 1991 during the Gulf War. Still gives 00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:44.599 you chills. It's kind of the benchmark performance 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:47.240 everyone gets compared to. Interestingly, though, 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.160 they didn't always do the anthem. Back at Super 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.119 Bowl Exide, Vicky Carr just sang America the 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:55.119 Beautiful. Huh. And it all wraps up with the 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:56.980 coin toss, right? Which isn't just a coin toss 00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:59.200 anymore. Right. Since about 78, they started 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.559 making it a little ceremony. Usually bring out 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:03.880 former players, maybe a celebrity, someone with 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.480 ties to the host city to do the toss. Adds a 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.839 bit more fanfare. Now, all this spectacle comes 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:11.549 with some... Aggressive branding control, doesn't 00:22:11.549 --> 00:22:14.890 it? The NFL is famously protective of its trademarks. 00:22:15.130 --> 00:22:17.930 Extremely protective. They go after any unauthorized 00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:20.490 commercial use of Super Bowl or even Super Bowl 00:22:20.490 --> 00:22:23.589 Sunday. It's why you see so many businesses resorting 00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:26.849 to wink wink generic phrases. Like the big game. 00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:29.650 Exactly. Yeah. The big game is the classic workaround. 00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:32.990 Critics say the NFL goes way too far trying to 00:22:32.990 --> 00:22:35.250 control language that's basically entered the 00:22:35.250 --> 00:22:37.710 public domain. Didn't Stephen Colbert make fun 00:22:37.710 --> 00:22:41.029 of this with the superb owl? He did. The superb 00:22:41.029 --> 00:22:44.269 owl became this running gag. And here's how intense 00:22:44.269 --> 00:22:49.630 the NFL is. In 2015, some small nonprofit in 00:22:49.630 --> 00:22:52.009 Arizona actually tried to trademark the phrase 00:22:52.009 --> 00:22:55.769 superb owl for an event, and the NFL filed an 00:22:55.769 --> 00:22:57.970 opposition against it. They tried to stop someone 00:22:57.970 --> 00:23:00.970 from using superb owl. They did. That's how protective 00:23:00.970 --> 00:23:03.410 they are of anything even remotely close to their 00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:06.509 brand. They even tried to trademark the big game 00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:09.650 itself back in 2006. No way. Did they get it? 00:23:09.750 --> 00:23:11.650 No. They withdrew the application after about 00:23:11.650 --> 00:23:14.650 a year. Stanford University and UC Berkeley strongly 00:23:14.650 --> 00:23:16.990 opposed it because their annual rivalry football 00:23:16.990 --> 00:23:19.309 game has been officially called the big game 00:23:19.309 --> 00:23:21.910 since way back in 1892. Good thing they backed 00:23:21.910 --> 00:23:23.890 down on that one. Yeah. But the restrictions 00:23:23.890 --> 00:23:26.069 are still pretty intense. The NFL has claimed, 00:23:26.109 --> 00:23:28.029 for example, that churches or other non -sports 00:23:28.029 --> 00:23:30.529 venues can't show the Super Bowl on screens larger 00:23:30.529 --> 00:23:33.029 than 55 inches. Critics argue that's a massive 00:23:33.029 --> 00:23:35.210 overreach and probably violates fair use laws 00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:38.670 for private viewing parties. Wow. OK, one last 00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:40.670 piece of the cultural puzzle. The presidential 00:23:40.670 --> 00:23:42.289 interview. When did that become a regular thing? 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:44.799 It really started consistently during Barack 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:47.880 Obama's presidency. George W. Bush did one back 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:50.579 in 2004, but Obama made it an annual tradition 00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:53.480 during his two terms. And the tone of those interviews 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:55.980 has changed, hasn't it? Definitely. Before about 00:23:55.980 --> 00:23:59.099 2014, they were usually pretty light. Football 00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:02.359 talk, maybe some easy policy questions. But then 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:04.339 Bill O 'Reilly did a much more confrontational 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:08.140 interview with Obama before Super Bowl XL8. And 00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:11.140 that set a new precedent. It seemed to. Since 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:13.519 then, whether it was Trump or Biden, the pre 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:15.359 -Super Bowl interview has become a much more 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:17.900 standard, often politically charged media appearance. 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:20.740 It just highlights what an unparalleled platform 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:23.259 the game is to reach tens of millions of Americans 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:24.940 all at once. All right, let's talk logistics. 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:27.200 Hosting the Super Bowl, it sounds glamorous, 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:29.720 but the requirements the NFL puts on a city are 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:32.240 intense. Intense is an understatement. It's a 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.920 massive, expensive undertaking. And historically, 00:24:35.099 --> 00:24:36.980 it's been very concentrated. Think about it. 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:40.279 Out of 59 Super Bowls played so far, 30 of them, 00:24:40.299 --> 00:24:42.140 more than half, have been in just three places. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:45.180 Miami, New Orleans, and L .A. Why those three 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:47.279 so often? Primarily weather and infrastructure. 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:50.519 Miami and New Orleans are tied with 11 hosting 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:53.579 gigs each. Greater Los Angeles has hosted eight 00:24:53.579 --> 00:24:56.440 times. They have the facilities, the hotel space, 00:24:56.660 --> 00:24:59.519 and usually the reliable warm weather the NFL 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:01.859 traditionally prefers. And you need an NFL team 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:03.980 in the city to host, right? Yeah, that's a key 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:06.799 requirement now, yes. The host city has to have 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:10.019 an active NFL franchise. Although, interestingly, 00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:12.720 the stadium itself hasn't always been the home 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:15.240 team stadium, especially in the early years or 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:17.519 in L .A. before the Rams and Chargers returned. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:20.339 Okay, so what are some of those specific requirements? 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:22.519 You mentioned the league. details. Yeah. Back 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:24.920 in 2014, some of the bid requirements got out. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:27.079 They're pretty wild. The stadium itself needs 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:30.220 at least 70 ,000 seats. 70 ,000 minimum. Yep. 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:31.940 And they do allow temporary seating to reach 00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:34.400 that number. But the stuff outside the stadium 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.839 is just as demanding. They require 35 ,000 parking 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:40.180 spaces within a one mile radius of the stadium. 00:25:40.420 --> 00:25:43.319 Imagine coordinating that. 35 ,000 parking spots. 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:45.680 Wow. And then there's the NFL experience. That's 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:47.500 the big fan festival thing they do all week. 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:50.319 It needs a huge amount of space, at least 850 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.019 ,000 square feet if it's indoors, or even a million 00:25:53.019 --> 00:25:55.440 square feet if it's outdoors. That's like 15 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.240 football fields of space just for the Fan Fest. 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:02.359 That's enormous. And hotels. Thousands of rooms 00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:05.359 needed. Specifically, the requirement was hotel 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:08.299 space equivalent to 35 % of the stadium's capacity, 00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:11.500 all located within a one -hour drive. Plus massive 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.440 needs for security, media centers, power grids. 00:26:14.829 --> 00:26:17.309 The cost to the host city can easily run into 00:26:17.309 --> 00:26:19.269 the hundreds of millions, sometimes more. And 00:26:19.269 --> 00:26:20.809 the weather thing. Traditionally, they wanted 00:26:20.809 --> 00:26:22.970 warm weather or a dome, right? That was the longstanding 00:26:22.970 --> 00:26:25.390 rule, yeah. Average game day temp needed to be 00:26:25.390 --> 00:26:28.150 50 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer or you needed 00:26:28.150 --> 00:26:30.990 a roof. That's why Miami, New Orleans, L .A. 00:26:31.529 --> 00:26:34.009 Phoenix, Tampa, places like that, hosted so often. 00:26:34.089 --> 00:26:35.930 But they have waived that rule sometimes, played 00:26:35.930 --> 00:26:38.170 in colder cities. They have. Six northern cities 00:26:38.170 --> 00:26:40.829 have hosted. Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis 00:26:40.829 --> 00:26:42.609 all have domes, so that met the requirement. 00:26:42.849 --> 00:26:44.769 But then there were waivers. Like New York, New 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:47.829 Jersey. Exactly. MetLife Stadium in New Jersey 00:26:47.829 --> 00:26:50.769 hosted Super Bowl XL8. That was the big one the 00:26:50.769 --> 00:26:53.450 first time the game was held outdoors, in a cold 00:26:53.450 --> 00:26:56.390 -weather city without a roof. The league had 00:26:56.390 --> 00:26:58.690 to grant a special waiver and make all sorts 00:26:58.690 --> 00:27:01.809 of contingency plans for snow. It showed they 00:27:01.809 --> 00:27:04.230 were willing to bend the rules for a major market. 00:27:04.470 --> 00:27:06.549 Have they ever taken a Super Bowl away from a 00:27:06.549 --> 00:27:08.890 city after awarding it? Yes, that's happened 00:27:08.890 --> 00:27:11.569 a couple of times. Most famously, Super Bowl 00:27:11.569 --> 00:27:14.250 XC7 was supposed to be in Arizona, but it got 00:27:14.250 --> 00:27:16.589 moved to Pasadena, California because Arizona 00:27:16.589 --> 00:27:19.190 voters had initially rejected making Martin Luther 00:27:19.190 --> 00:27:22.869 King Jr. Day a paid state holiday. The NFL pulled 00:27:22.869 --> 00:27:25.170 the game in protest. Wow. Political pressure. 00:27:25.390 --> 00:27:27.609 Any more recent examples? Yeah. Just a few years 00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:29.829 ago. Super Bowl Heavy 8th was originally awarded 00:27:29.829 --> 00:27:32.430 to New Orleans. But then the NFL expanded the 00:27:32.430 --> 00:27:35.210 regular season to 17 games. That pushed the Super 00:27:35.210 --> 00:27:37.430 Bowl date back a week right into the middle of 00:27:37.430 --> 00:27:39.490 Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Whoa, that's a conflict. 00:27:39.710 --> 00:27:42.069 Huge conflict. Logistically impossible to host 00:27:42.069 --> 00:27:44.690 both massive events at the same time. So the 00:27:44.690 --> 00:27:47.329 NFL moved Super Bowl L8 to Las Vegas instead. 00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:51.089 New Orleans got LAX this past year's game as 00:27:51.089 --> 00:27:54.150 compensation. Okay, last topic. Home field advantage 00:27:54.150 --> 00:27:57.569 and jerseys. Does playing at home even matter? 00:27:57.990 --> 00:28:00.490 Statistically, not really. The home team designation 00:28:00.490 --> 00:28:03.930 just alternates each year. NFC gets it for odd 00:28:03.930 --> 00:28:07.130 numbers, Super Bowls, AFC for even. But the designated 00:28:07.130 --> 00:28:10.130 away team has actually won 32 of the 59 games. 00:28:10.349 --> 00:28:13.730 That's about 54%. So no real advantage there. 00:28:13.869 --> 00:28:16.109 But the home team does get to choose their jersey 00:28:16.109 --> 00:28:19.000 color, right? And that seems to matter. Ah, yes. 00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:23.019 Since Super Bowl XIII, the home team picks wear 00:28:23.019 --> 00:28:25.880 your normal color jerseys or wear white. And 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:28.059 this is where superstition takes over because 00:28:28.059 --> 00:28:30.859 there's this really strong, weird trend. The 00:28:30.859 --> 00:28:33.299 white jersey curse or blessing. Blessing, definitely. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.140 Teams wearing white jerseys have won 37 out of 00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:39.299 59 Super Bowls. That's 63%. It's a statistically 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:41.940 significant trend, way higher than 50 -50. 63%. 00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:44.619 That's huge. So teams actually choose white even 00:28:44.619 --> 00:28:46.539 if they're home. Oh, yeah. It happens quite a 00:28:46.539 --> 00:28:48.319 bit now because of that stat. The Cowboys did 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:50.579 it back in 13th and accent. The Steelers chose 00:28:50.579 --> 00:28:52.440 white for Super Bowl XL. They'd won all their 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:54.319 playoff games on the road wearing white that 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:56.339 year and wanted to keep the mojo going. Didn't 00:28:56.339 --> 00:28:58.519 the Broncos do it recently, too? They did, very 00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:03.200 explicitly, for Super Bowl 50. John Elway, their 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:05.339 GM, basically came out and said, we're wearing 00:29:05.339 --> 00:29:07.079 white because we've had Super Bowl success in 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:10.039 white. They were 0 -4 wearing orange in previous 00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:12.640 Super Bowls. They wore white and they won. And 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:14.460 the Bucs when they won at home. Wore white too. 00:29:14.579 --> 00:29:16.720 Super Bowl LV, even though they were the home 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:19.500 team in their home stadium, they opted for the 00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:22.420 white jerseys. And they won. So that trend, that 00:29:22.420 --> 00:29:25.240 superstition, it's clearly something teams think 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:27.500 about. It actually influences decisions. Absolutely. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:30.160 Whether it's real magic or just psychology, that 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:32.759 63 percent win rate for white jerseys is too 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:34.779 big for teams to ignore when they're preparing 00:29:34.779 --> 00:29:37.220 for the biggest game of the year. Hashtag tag 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:40.809 outro. Wow. OK, so wrapping this up. The steep 00:29:40.809 --> 00:29:42.210 dive really shows the Super Bowl is just this 00:29:42.210 --> 00:29:44.930 incredible mix of things. We started with it's 00:29:44.930 --> 00:29:47.309 like almost accidental origins named after a 00:29:47.309 --> 00:29:49.849 toy, then tracked decades of dominance swinging 00:29:49.849 --> 00:29:52.130 back and forth between the AFC and NFC and the 00:29:52.130 --> 00:29:55.490 logistics. Just the sheer scale required to host 00:29:55.490 --> 00:29:57.910 the square footage, the hotels. It's mind boggling. 00:29:57.970 --> 00:30:00.089 It really is. Yeah. And what strikes me is how 00:30:00.089 --> 00:30:02.529 managed the whole experience is. Yeah. It's so 00:30:02.529 --> 00:30:05.529 meticulously crafted. Yeah. You know, using Roman 00:30:05.529 --> 00:30:07.609 numerals to give it historical weight, changing 00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:10.349 the whole halftime show strategy because of one 00:30:10.349 --> 00:30:13.029 ratings dip, fiercely protecting the name Super 00:30:13.029 --> 00:30:16.049 Bowl. It's all so intentional. Yeah, it's not 00:30:16.049 --> 00:30:18.329 just a football game that happens to be popular. 00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:21.890 It's this giant, perfectly tuned machine of sports, 00:30:22.029 --> 00:30:25.269 business and culture. Exactly. Where even the 00:30:25.269 --> 00:30:27.690 color of the jersey a team wears is tangled up 00:30:27.690 --> 00:30:30.589 in decades of statistics and frankly, superstition. 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:33.819 A truly amazing spectacle. So next time you're 00:30:33.819 --> 00:30:35.799 watching, maybe you hear someone call it the 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:38.400 big game or you see one of those superb owl posts. 00:30:38.619 --> 00:30:40.900 Right. Hopefully you can appreciate all the layers 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:43.319 underneath, the history, the money, the planning, 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:46.920 this whole massive ecosystem that makes the Super 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:49.799 Bowl what it is. Yeah, exactly. We hope you look 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:52.160 at that huge global audience, the crazy cost 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.920 of a 30 second ad, or even just notice who's 00:30:54.920 --> 00:30:56.660 wearing white and think about the incredible 00:30:56.660 --> 00:30:59.200 journey this game has been on. It's just fascinating 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:01.900 how much goes into making something seem so seamless 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:04.119 for just a few hours on a Sunday night.