Super Bowl Notes, Quotes & Anecdotes

115

Super Bowl Notes,

Quotes & Anecdotes

Super Bowl XXXIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 116

America’s Undeclared National Holiday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 118

The Country’s Most Important Sporting Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 119

The Game, The Teams, The Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 121

Economic and Marketing Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 124

Television-Radio/Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 128

International Mega Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 133

Media/Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 135

Super Bowl Ring/Trophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 136

Super Bowl Week—Pregame, Halftime & Postgame Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 137

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 139

Super Bowl Miscellany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 140

Contents

116

SUPER BOWL XXXIX

UPER

OWL

XXXIX

Notes, Quotes & Anecdotes

America’s Most Significant

Sporting Event

“Here’s something I’ve learned. At a

time when this country has never been

more divided philosophically, socio-

logically, financially, politically, and in

almost every way we can view ourselves,

the Super Bowl has become arguably

the most uniting, popular, entertaining,

and significant event on our annual

calendar.”

—Pro Football Weekly

“The Super Bowl has evolved in the last

decade. It’s a national event.”

—Hallmark Cards spokesperson

Rachel Bolton

“You realize that everybody in the whole

world is here for this game.”

—Philadelphia Eagles defensive

line coach Tommy Brasher

“It’s like planning a wedding. Instead of

having 200 seats, you have 15 and every-

one wants to go.”

—New England Patriots tight end

Christian Fauria on trying to satisfy

his family and friends requests for

Super Bowl XXXIX tickets

“The Super Bowl is becoming comfort

food. It brings us back to a simpler time

with no problems.”

—Psychologist Don Powell

“The Super Bowl by far provides the

largest audience any advertiser can reach

at one time.”

—Nicole Bradley, spokesperson

for Pepsi-Cola

“There is no more mainstream advertis-

ing vehicle in the United States than the

Super Bowl.”

—Matt Ferguson, Careerbuilder’s

Chief Executive

“We’ll get about 100,000 visitors, more

than 100 million U.S. television viewers,

and a potential worldwide audience of

about 1 billion watching the Super Bowl

broadcast.”

—Florida Times-Union

“Sales have been nothing short of

amazing. We’ve broken every record in

31 years (of business), hitting numbers

that we only dreamed of.”

—John Smith, owner of Jacksonville

Beach’s Sports Mania store on sales

during Super Bowl XXXIX

“There should be no class on the Mon-

day after the Super Bowl.”

—New England Patriots

linebacker Larry Izzo

Dreams Do Come True

“It’s a dream come true (to play in Super

Bowl XXXIX).”

—Philadelphia Eagles quarterback

Donovan McNabb

“I don’t care if I have to mortgage my

house, I’m going.”

—Philadelphia Eagles fan

Kevin O’Donoghue on going

to Super Bowl XXXIX

Philadelphia Inquirer

“The greater team goal is winning the

Super Bowl. That supersedes what any

player goal might be. You have to

make decisions and sacrifices. I know

what’s important to me and where my

priorities lie.”

—New England Patriots

quarterback Tom Brady

“It’s a tremendous blessing to be here

and play in the world’s greatest football

game.”

—New England Patriots

safety Rodney Harrison

Tuning Into Super Bowl XXXIX

The 133.7 million Americans that

watched at least part of Super Bowl

XXXIX on FOX ranks as the fifth-most

watched program in television history,

and eclipses Super Bowl XXXVI

(133.0 million) as FOX’s most-watched

program in the network’s 19-year history.

Why Do You Watch?

Why do you watch the Super Bowl?

• 92.1%—For the game

• 5.6%—For the commercials

• 0.9%—For the halftime show

• 0.3%—Peer pressure

• 1.2%—I don’t watch the Super Bowl

Super Host City

According to a SurveyUSA poll:

• 75% of adults from the city of

Jacksonville thought the city did a

good job as host city for Super Bowl

XXXIX.

• 90% of adults would like to see

Jacksonville host the Super Bowl

again.

• 61% of adults went to Super Bowl-

related activities on the First Coast.

Party Time

21.5 million people will throw Super

Bowl parties, 9.9 million will watch the

game in bars and restaurants, and

consumers who plan to watch the game

will spend an average of $49.27 each

(or $5.6 billion total) on Super Bowl-

related items.

—USA Today

Holy Guacamole!

43.8 million pounds of avocados will be

eaten during Super Bowl XXXIX. That’s

enough guacamole to fill ALLTEL

Stadium 10-and-one-half feet deep.

—USA Today

“THIS IS WHAT PLAYERS GO

THROUGH TRAINING CAMP FOR.

THIS IS WHY PEOPLE TRAIN

SO HARD. THIS IS WHY GUYS

BLEED. THIS IS THE GAME

PLAYERS TRY TO REACH. THIS IS

THE PINNACLE AND IT DOESN’T

GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.”

—Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver

Terrell Owens

ATIONWIDE

ELEBRATION

Once again affirming Super Bowl Sunday as a nationwide celebration, FOX’s

coverage of Super Bowl XXXIX was seen by far more people than voted in the

2004 Presidential election (122 million) or went out to celebrate New Year’s Eve

(106 million).

117

SUPER BOWL XXXIX

Don’t Forget the Pizza and Chips

17—The average number of attendees

for a Super Bowl party.

68—Percentage of Super Bowl party-

goers who prefer pizza.

4,000—Tons of popcorn to be eaten.

14,000—Tons of chips to be consumed.

1,500,000—TV sets to be sold the week

before Super Bowl XXXIX.

3,200,000—Pizzas that Pizza Hut and

Domino’s expect to sell on Super

Bowl Sunday.

$125,000,000—Expected sales of Super

Bowl merchandise.

—USA Today

Floating Hotels

The city of Jacksonville docked five

cruise ships along the St. John’s River,

adding the equivalent of 3,667 hotel

rooms, housing 6,400 people.

—Florida Times-Union

Super Bowl “Turf Cams”

For Super Bowl XXXIX, FOX deployed

“turf cams” in various positions on the

playing field, all within the hashmarks.

It was the first time such images were

available during an NFL telecast.

—USA Today

Record International Advertising Rates

For Super Bowl XXXIX, Global TV in

Canada charged a top rate of $110,000

for a 30-second Super Bowl ad, a record

for a Canadian sports broadcast.

SuperBowl.com International

Cybercast

Super Bowl XXXIX was cybercast in

six languages on SuperBowl.com, the

NFL’s official website. The game was

cybercast on the site in Danish, German,

Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian,

and Spanish.

Super Helpers

More than 9,500 of Jacksonville’s

1.2 million residents volunteered to

help at Super Bowl XXXIX.

—Florida Times-Union

The Masses Came…

About 120 commercial flights arrived at

the [Jacksonville International] airport

Thursday carrying about 14,000

passengers. On a typical day, roughly

8,000 passengers arrive on 100 flights.

Many airlines switched to larger jets for

the Super Bowl crowds.

…and Left

The city’s airport had its busiest day ever

when more than 25,000 passengers

flooded its gates the day after the game.

—Florida Times-Union

Super Bowl Media Frenzy

13,567 accredited members of the media

covered Super Bowl XXXIX.

Media Day Covered Worldwide

1,000 international reporters attended

Super Bowl XXXIX Media Day at

ALLTEL Stadium.

Lending a Super Hand

Thirty [thousand] to 40,000 pounds of

food prepared during Super Bowl week

winds up in food banks, churches, and

soup kitchens.

—New York Times

Small Businesses Benefit

125 small businesses registered with the

NFL for Super Bowl XXXIX. They were

projected to eventually get $1.8 million

in work from the event.

—Florida Times-Union

Hurry…Before They’re Gone

Rosalia’s Italian Café sold 600 cheese

steaks in one hour before Super Bowl

XXXIX.

—Florida Times-Union

“YOU CAN BE THE RICHEST

MAN IN THE WORLD AND

NOT BE ABLE TO BUY

MOMENTS LIKE THIS.”

—New England Patriots offensive

coordinator Charlie Weis

UPER

OWL

XXXIX

ROADCAST IN

31 L

ANGUAGES

Super Bowl XXXIX was broadcast in

the following 31 languages: Arabic,

Basque, Cantonese, Catalan, Danish,

English, Farsi, Faroese, Filipino,

Finnish, French, Galician, German,

Greek, Greenlandic, Hindu,

Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian,

Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese,

Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese,

Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish,

Swedish, and Thai.

“I HAVE BEEN IN THE NFL

FOR 18 YEARS AND THIS IS MY

FIRST SUPER BOWL. IT’S

SOMETHING I KNOW I WILL

REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF

MY LIFE.”

—Philadelphia Eagles defensive

coordinator Jim Johnson

SuperBowl.com

SuperBowl.com posted record

numbers for Cadillac Super Bowl

MVP voting and fan usage. A

record 2.2 million unique users

logged on to SuperBowl.com on

Super Bowl Sunday—up from

2 million for Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Beginning in the fourth quarter,

fans cast a record 468,818 votes for

the Super Bowl MVP, surpassing

last year’s mark of 440,937. Fan

votes counted 20 percent (four

votes) with another 16 on-site

media members representing the

other 80 percent. Fans voted for

the Cadillac Super Bowl MVP via

SuperBowl.com, FoxSports.com,

and by wireless devices.

The four fan votes were distributed

as follows:

Patriots QB Tom Brady 2.5

votes

Patriots WR Deion Branch 1.0

vote

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb 0.5

vote

SB XXXIX Draws

Record Internet Traffic

118

AMERICA’S UNDECLARED NATIONAL HOLIDAY

MERICA

’

NDECLARED

ATIONAL

OLIDAY

“These are days that define us as

Americans: Independence Day. Mother’s

Day. Thanksgiving Day. And, of course,

Super Bowl Sunday.”

—Washington Post

“Hallmark’s party experts (there really

are such people) have been doing some

research and have come to the conclu-

sion that the Super Bowl has become

America’s biggest excuse for having a

party, surpassing even New Year’s Eve.”

—Wall Street Journal

“It’s become the biggest day in sports,

almost as if it’s a national holiday, so

maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that the

Super Bowl has come to be a microcosm

of America here at the start of this new

millennium. People are tuning in

because it’s an event, America’s party

holiday, and by definition that means it

has to appeal to the biggest demographic

possible. The Super Bowl has become

the event in which the country seems to

take a time-out to watch, regardless of

which teams are in it. The one game

everyone watches, even those who

wouldn’t know a blitz from a fly pattern.

It’s about commerce as much as it’s

about football, a game that’s at the inter-

section of sport and corporate culture.

We love parades. We love fireworks. We

love spectacles. We love to hear about

how much money companies pay for

their commercials. We love big. And the

Super Bowl has become the biggest

sports spectacle we have.”

—Providence Journal

“The Super Bowl has become the closest

thing sports has given us to a national

holiday, the Great American Spectacle,

the one Sunday every year when the

country comes to a near halt and revolves

around the NFL’s championship game.”

—San Diego Union Tribune

“The four biggest holiday celebrations in

the United States are Thanksgiving,

Christmas, New Year’s Day and the

Super Bowl.”

—Washington Post

“Football is our sport, and the Super

Bowl is our national holiday.”

—San Diego Union Tribune

Celebration!

Students declared their own holiday and

offices shut down as a million and a half

New England Patriots fans jammed

Boston’s downtown Tuesday for the

city’s second Super Bowl party in three

years. Police said the crowd surpassed

the 1.2 million at the Patriots’ 2002

Super Bowl celebration.

—USA Today

We Gather Together

On the last Sunday in January, we

Americans will gather to honor what has

become the last great communal ritual.

—Boston Globe

Take the Day Off

Frozen in amber somewhere is the image

of Americans doing things like stopping

in their tracks at 11 a.m. on Armistice

Day as bells rang to honor war dead.

Now there’s really only one true commu-

nal ritual left. To merely say that the

Super Bowl is far and away America’s

biggest television event isn’t enough.

To call it a ‘manufactured holiday’

doesn’t quite do it, either. You can argue

now that it has become our preeminent

secular holiday.

—Newsweek

We Are Family

“Anything that creates community in

this mobile age, with our rootless society,

with so many people without extended

families, is good. The Super Bowl turns

the country into one huge cheering

section.”

—Jack Lindquist, senior pastor,

Church of Incarnation, San Diego

National Holiday

“It’s New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July,

and Mardi Gras rolled into one...the

Super Bowl is America’s Game.”

—Los Angeles Times

We Give Thanks...

Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest

eating day of the year, right behind

Thanksgiving.

—San Diego Union-Tribune

Pass the Chips...

Aside from holidays (July 4, Labor Day,

etc.) the Super Bowl is Frito-Lay’s

biggest snack day of the year.

...And the Pizza

Domino’s has its single-biggest sales day

of the year on Super Bowl Sunday. It

sells 1.2 million pizzas in the USA each

year on Super Bowl Sunday. The chain’s

biggest pizza-selling days of the year:

1. Super Bowl Sunday

2. New Year’s Eve

3. Halloween

4. The night before Thanksgiving

5. New Year’s Day

“They haven’t started

giving people the day

off on Monday yet,

but in some respects,

Super Bowl Sunday

seems like it’s more

of a national holiday

than a lot of those

days that are actual

holidays. The Super

Bowl is a commercial

event that has taken

on a civic character. ”

University of Missouri professor

Jeffrey Pasley, who studies

the history of patriotism

119

THE COUNTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT SPORTING EVENT

OUNTRY

’

OST

MPORTANT

PORTING

VENT

“The game with the Roman numerals

dwarfs championships decided on

diamonds, courts, and ice...Other sports

can only envy the enormity of the

Super Bowl.”

—USA Today

“For the one day that is Super Bowl

Sunday, your color and ethnicity and

religious beliefs and everything else that

separates different factions of society is

all forgotten. For those few hours, it’s

just the entire world watching our game.

How cool is that?”

—San Diego Union-Tribune

“It’s the sports championship game with

the Roman numerals, which separates it

from all other title games and conjures

up images of gladiators ready to battle.

It’s the biggest single-day sporting

event—the Super Bowl. And everybody

wants a piece of the action.”

—New York Newsday

“Can you imagine what it feels like to be

Irish and be at this most American of

events? It’s amazing. To be here at the

Super Bowl, to know this is the very

heart of America, it feels right.”

—Bono, lead singer of U2, featured in

Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show

“In sport and in life, America never

looked better [than at Super Bowl

XXXVI].”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“It’s the single largest event that attracts

the most people.”

—Jeff Kuhlman, director of

communications for Cadillac

History Lessons

“History of America, Part I (1776-1966):

Declaration of Independence,

Constitutional Convention, Louisiana

Purchase, Civil War, Reconstruction,

World War I, Great Depression, New

Deal, World War II, TV, Cold War,

civil-rights movement, Vietnam. History

of America, Part II (1967-present): the

Super Bowl era. The Super Bowl has

become Main Street’s Mardi Gras.”

—Norman Chad, TV Guide

Common Interest

“The Super Bowl, because it garners

broad-based interest in the American

public that transcends social class, race,

gender—all kinds of boundaries—pro-

vides a context for the nation to share

interest in a common event. The

Oscars, the Emmys, even a presidential

election...none of them compare. In

terms of political conventions, they draw

their own party and not across group

boundaries. The Super Bowl is a singular

sociocultural event that is powerful

economically, as well as socially and

culturally.”

—Jomills Braddock II, director of the

University of Miami’s Center for

Research on Sport in Society

Competing Interest

“This is the premier sporting event in

the country, and it symbolizes competi-

tion.”

—John Swigard, special promotions

coordinator, Ford Motor Company

What’s the Other Half Doing?

“When you think that virtually half the

country’s watching the Super Bowl…this

makes a hell of a statement.”

—Jon Mandel, Grey Advertising

American Made

“If we were to brand America, the brand

would be the Super Bowl. This game is

all about freedom, excitement, and ful-

filling your dreams. It’s the challenge of

the best going up against the best.”

—Jim Johnson, president,

Anspach Grossman Enterprise

Business Sense

“The Super Bowl, as a cultural and

commercial experience, impresses

people in the business realm as no other

annual event in the world.”

—Pat Conners, vice president of

marketing, Mesa Distributing

Diverse Audience

“The Super Bowl crosses sexual bound-

aries, racial boundaries, regional bound-

aries, cultural boundaries, even financial

boundaries….Everybody watches….”

—Kansas City Star

See and Be Seen

“The Super Bowl is an event where

the beautiful people go to be seen, the

same as when entertainers used to sit

ringside at heavyweight title fights.

From Miss America [Angela Perez],

Carmen Electra, and Jennifer Lopez to

Evander Holyfield, B.B. King, and Ricky

Martin, they know it’s good business to

be part of the spectacle.”

—Washington Times

“SUNDAY WAS THE BEST

SUPER BOWL OF THEM ALL,

FOR ALL THE FINE REASONS

THAT WE COME TO SPORTS,

ALL THE THINGS THAT MOVE

US IN SPORTS, AND MAKE US

TALK ABOUT GAMES LIKE

SUPER BOWL XXXVI

FOREVER.”

— New York Daily News

“...AN AMERICAN RITE OF

SPORTS AND MARKETING

THAT WAS BORN IN RELATIVE

MODESTY, BUT HAS GROWN

TO BE THE UNDISPUTED

CHAMPION OF SPORTS

EXTRAVAGANZAS.”

—New York Times

An April, 2000, ESPN Sports

Poll ranked the Super Bowl as

the most anticipated sporting

event or competition in any given

year. The Super Bowl drew

24.5 percent of the survey votes,

three times the 7.6 percent of

the poll’s runner-up—the

World Series.

Super Bowl 24.5%

World Series 7.6%

Olympics 5.7%

NFL Playoffs 4.3%

NBA Playoffs 3.5%

NCAA Men’s Final Four 3.3%

Daytona 500 2.8%

NBA Finals 2.4%

Stanley Cup Finals 1.9%

—ESPN

Counting the Days

Top 15 All-Time Television Programs

Based on audience rating (A.C. Nielsen)

Rank Program Telecast Date Network Avg. Audience (%)

1 M*A*S*H (Final Episode) Feb. 28, 1983 CBS 60.2

2 Dallas Nov. 21, 1980 CBS 53.3

3 Roots-Part VIII Jan. 30, 1977 ABC 51.1

4 Super Bowl XVI Jan. 24, 1982 CBS 49.1

5 Super Bowl XVII Jan. 30, 1983 NBC 48.6

6 Winter Olympics Feb. 23, 1994 CBS 48.5

7 Super Bowl XX Jan. 26, 1986 NBC 48.3

8 Gone With The Wind-Part 1 (Big Event-Pt. 1) Nov. 7, 1976 NBC 47.7

9 Gone With The Wind-Part 2 (NBC Mon. Movie) Nov. 8, 1976 NBC 47.4

10 Super Bowl XII Jan. 15, 1978 CBS 47.2

11 Super Bowl XIII Jan. 21, 1979 NBC 47.1

12 Bob Hope Christmas Show Jan. 15, 1970 NBC 46.6

13 Super Bowl XVIII Jan. 22, 1984 CBS 46.4

13 Super Bowl XIX Jan. 20, 1985 ABC 46.4

15 Super Bowl XIV Jan. 20, 1980 CBS 46.3

120

THE COUNTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT SPORTING EVENT

America Watches

“ D o e s n’t matter which teams are playing.

D o e s n’t matter how lopsided the

g a m e .

America watches. The most-watched

t e l e -

vision shows [in numbers of people] are

Super Bowls….And truth is, nobody’ s

quite sure how the Super Bowl became

the Super Bowl. It was just supposed to be

a football game. But…it’s bigger than

that. It’s bigger than anything, really. ”

—Kansas City Star

Foresight

[Former NFL Commissioner Pete]

Rozelle, whose game was public relations

before ascending to running a game,

decided that the meeting between the

champions of the established NFL and

the upstart AFL would come not the

Sunday after the league championship

games, but two weeks later.

“It was as calculated a decision as was

ever made by the league,” said former

Cowboys president Tex Schramm. “The

idea was to give the game time to build.

That allowed us to get the teams in early,

to make them available, to make sure

that the media got everything it needed

to tell the world about our game.”

—Dallas Morning News

Ski Lift

Officials at Wachusett [Massachusetts]

Mountain Ski Area erected a huge

television screen, estimated by one

employee at 10 feet by 10 feet, at the base

of the chair lift. “That way, fans can

watch the game while they’re waiting in

line, take a run during commercials, and

ski back in time to watch some more

plays,” said Tom Meyers, marketing

director at the ski area. Patrons could get

lift tickets at half price if they could

name 11 Patriots in 60 seconds.

—Boston Globe

Super Bowl XXXI

“PAUL TAGLIABUE LOOKED

IN ALL DIRECTIONS FRIDAY,

AND WHAT HE SAW WAS

GOOD. PROFESSIONAL

FOOTBALL WAS THE

UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT

SPORTS CHAMPION OF

AMERICA. AND PERHAPS

SOMEDAY, THE WORLD.”

—Washington Post, at Super Bowl XXVII

Former President Gerald Ford

watched Super Bowl XIII while on a

trip to Israel. President Ronald

Reagan tossed the coin at the White

House prior to Super Bowl XIX and

his performance was shown via tele-

vision on the scoreboard at Stanford

Stadium. President George Bush

made a taped message for U.S. mili-

tary forces engaged in Desert Storm,

and it was shown on television at

halftime of Super Bowl XXV.

Mr. Bush, as Vice President,

attended Super Bowl XVI at the

Pontiac Silverdome, and later was a

spectator at Super Bowl XXXVI at

the Louisiana Superdome. Vice

President Al Gore attended Super

Bowl XXVIII at the Georgia Dome.

Vice President Spiro Agnew

attended Super Bowl V at Miami’s

Orange Bowl. They are the highest-

ranking United States officials to

attend a Super Bowl.

Executive Privilege

121

THE GAME, THE TEAMS, THE PLAYERS

AME

EAMS

LAYERS

“The Super Bowl is about opportunity.

To go from humble beginnings, to

pursuing a dream, to becoming cham-

pion of the world. That’s what it’s all

about—opportunity.”

—Mike Ditka

“This Super Bowl [XXXVIII] might be

the Super Bowl all others are measured

against, at least as long as grit and a

heart-stopping finish are among the

measuring sticks.”

—Houston Chronicle

“This [XXXVIII] was one of the best

Super Bowls, full of comebacks and

strategy, athletic feats and suspense.

Sunday night was for the championship

of this vast and powerful league, and it

was worthy of such attention.”

—New York Times

“So now Bill Belichick’s Patriots have

given us the two best endings in Super

Bowl history. And no one could have

known it at the time, but the Patriots and

the Panthers were on their way to making

Super Bowl XXXVIII the craziest and

best and most entertaining Super Bowl of

them all. Twenty-four points in the last

three minutes of the first quarter. Thirty-

seven points in the fourth quarter!”

—New York Daily News

“With everything that happened this

week, with all the security, the fact that

we’re at war, and then to have a great

game like this, I don’t see how anyone

can say this [XXXVI] wasn’t the greatest

Super Bowl of all time.”

—Ty Law, New England

Patriots cornerback

“Commissioner Tagliabue should be

proud. Super Bowl XXXVI will not only

be remembered for the Patriots’ stunning

20-17 upset of the highly-favored Rams,

but also for the extensive security mea-

sure put in place in the aftermath of

September 11. The end result was a

monumental event that went off with

little inconvenience to the average

ticket holder.”

—New York Post

“[In Super Bowl XXXVI] the NFL

demonstrated its ability to put on a

display of unbridled patriotism better

than any organization in sports.”

—Washington Post

“People all over the world are attracted

to events that endorse a sense of ‘we-

ness.’ We love big events like the Super

Bowl. We are constantly looking for a

connection with each other based on the

notion of nationhood. It is an opportu-

nity for us to gather as one.”

—Dr. Jay Coakley, professor of sociology

at the University of Colorado

at Colorado Springs

“This [XXXVI] was not only the biggest

upset in the 36 years of Super Bowl his-

tory, with the best finish in Super Bowl

history, but all of it happened with the

most timely backdrop. From the

pregame songs of John Phillip Sousa to

the halftime unveiling of the names of

those killed in the September 11 tragedy,

the theme of this game was the resilience

of a unified America.”

—Los Angeles Times

“This was a game you didn’t want to end.

This may have been the greatest Super

Bowl of them all, for more reasons than

you can count. Super Bowl XXXVI will

be remembered for a lot of things, but

first and foremost it should be remem-

bered as a classic championship event.”

—Contra Costa Times

Brady’s Bunch

Tom Brady became the youngest

quarterback in NFL history to win two

Super Bowl rings (Brady was 26 years

and 182 days old). In second place is

Troy Aikman (27 years and 70 days old).

Patriots Airlines

The Patriots employed six 767s to fly

their entire group of players, coaches,

sponsors, family, friends and associates

to Houston for Super Bowl XXXVIII.

—Boston Globe

Super Secret Service

Super Bowl XXXVI was the first sport-

ing event to be tagged a “National

Special Security Event,” a designation by

the Federal Government that makes the

Secret Service the coordinating agency.

I $12, $10, $6

II $12

III $12

IV $15

V $15

VI $15

VII $15

VIII $15

IX $20

X $20

XI $20

XII $30

XIII $30

XIV $30

XV $40

XVI $40

XVII $40

XVIII $60

XIX $60

X X $ 7 5

X X I $ 7 5

X X I I $ 1 0 0

X X I I I $ 1 0 0

X X I V $ 1 2 5

X X V $ 1 5 0

X X V I $ 1 5 0

X X V I I $ 1 7 5

X X V I I I $ 1 7 5

X X I X $ 2 0 0

X X X $350, $250,

$ 2 0 0

X X X I $ 2 7 5

X X X I I $ 2 7 5

X X X I I I $ 3 2 5

X X X I V $ 3 2 5

X X X V $ 3 2 5

X X X V I $ 4 0 0

X X X V I I $500, $400

X X X V I I I $ 6 0 0, $500,

$ 4 0 0

X X X I X $600, $500

X L $700, $600

Super Bowl Tickets

PRICES

TICKET DISTRIBUTION

17.5% AFC champion

17.5% NFC champion

5.0% Host city team(s)

34.8% Other 29 teams (1.2% each)

25.2% NFL Office for distribution

to fan lottery, NFLPA,

media, and other NFL

associates

“What more could

you want? Super Bowl

XXXVIII had it all,

making it the best ever.

It was the greatest

Super Bowl of all

time. Now this

was a wonderful

championship battle,

full of everything that

makes the game

dramatic, draining,

enervating, maddening,

fantastic, exciting.”

—Sports Illustrated

122

THE GAME, THE TEAMS, THE PLAYERS

The Greater Good

“When we watch the Super Bowl, we are

able to imagine ourselves being part of

something greater than ourselves.”

—Cecilia O’Leary, associate professor of

history at Cal State-Monterey Bay

It’s Now or Never

“This isn’t anything like the World

Series. In the World Series, you’ve got at

least four or five opportunities that you

know you’re going to play. This is a

one-time shot, man. This is cool.”

—Deion Sanders

Around the Water Cooler

“People watch because they know other

people are watching. They know that

everybody is going to be talking about it

the next day.”

—David Stewart, chairman, USC

marketing department

Super Extravaganza

Ed Micone, executive vice-president

and executive producer, Radio City

Entertainment, states that the “Super

Bowl is the biggest entertainment

extravaganza in the world.”

Super Bowl I Among Most Memorable

Events of 1960s

Super Bowl I was selected second only to

man walking on the moon among the

most memorable events of the 1960s in a

1999 U.S. Postal Service survey of almost

one million Americans.

Last, But Not Least

The Tennessee Titans became the eighth

and last of the original AFL franchises

to advance to the Super Bowl (XXXIV).

The Titans did so in their fortieth

season. The seven others, in order,

were the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland

Raiders, New York Jets, Denver Broncos,

New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and

San Diego Chargers.

—The Tennessean

Fashion Statement

An estimated 100,000 people—it just

seems like more, with the bulky head-

gear those Wisconsin types wear—will

descend on San Diego for the Super

Bowl [XXXII]. By comparison, the

Republican National Convention in 1996

drew 30,000, many of whom also sported

unusual hats.

—San Diego Union-Tribune

Why Roman Numerals?

The use of Roman numerals to designate

Super Bowls began with V, won by the

Baltimore Colts over the Dallas Cowboys

16-13 on Jim O’Brien’s 32-yard field goal

with five seconds remaining.

The Roman numerals were adopted

to clarify any confusion that may occur

because the NFL Championship

Game—the Super Bowl—is played in

the year following a chronologically

recorded season. Numerals I through IV

were added later for the first four

Super Bowls.

It Became Super at Age III

The AFL-NFL World Championship

Game was a Packers’ Party its first

two years before the Super Bowl tag

became official at game III. Lamar Hunt,

owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, was fas-

cinated by the name and liveliness of a

Super Ball that was a favorite plaything

of his children, and was the original

advocate of the name Super Bowl.

Super Six

Defensive tackle Mike Lodish holds

the record of playing in six Super Bowls.

Lodish played for AFC-champion

Buffalo in Super Bowls XXV through

XXVIII, and was a member of Denver’s

Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII

champions.

Reeves Holds Appearance Record

Dan Reeves participated in more Super

Bowls, nine, than any other coach or

player. Reeves played running back for

the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowls V

and VI, and was a Cowboys assistant

coach in X, XII, and XIII. Reeves was

head coach in Denver from 1981 to 1992,

leading the Broncos to three AFC

championships and into Super Bowls

XXI, XXII, and XXIV. He also coached

the Atlanta Falcons in their Super Bowl

XXXIII appearance.

One Coach, Two Teams,

Two Super Bowls

Dick Vermeil became the fourth head

coach in NFL history to take two fran-

chises to the Super Bowl when he guided

the St. Louis Rams to victory in Super

Bowl XXXIV. Vermeil was head coach of

the Philadelphia Eagles when they lost

to the Oakland Raiders 27-10 in Super

Bowl XV. Don Shula (Colts and

Dolphins), Bill Parcells (Giants and

Patriots), and Dan Reeves (Broncos and

Falcons) are the others.

A Man For All Decades

Only one person, Gene Upshaw, has

played in Super Bowls in three

different decades. Upshaw, who was

inducted into the Pro Football Hall of

Fame in 1987, played guard for the

Oakland Raiders from 1967 to 1981, and

he participated with the AFL/AFC

champions in Super Bowls II (1968), XI

(1977), and XV (1981).

Quarterback Jeff Rutledge was a

Super Bowl participant in two decades,

but also was a member of a team that was

the NFC champion in a third decade.

Rutledge was on the roster of the

1979 Los Angeles Rams, who played in

Super Bowl XIV (1980), and then he

played for the New York Giants in XXI

(1987) and the Washington Redskins

in XXVI (1992).

Matt’s the One

Linebacker Matt Millen is the only

player to earn Super Bowl championship

rings with three different teams—the

Raiders in XV and XVIII, the 49ers in

XXIV, and the Redskins in XXVI.

Huddle to Sideline

Tom Flores was the first person to earn

Super Bowl rings as a player, assistant

coach, and head coach. He was a backup

quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs

in IV, an assistant for Oakland in XI,

and, as a head coach, led the Raiders to

victory in XV and XVIII.

Mike Ditka became the second when

he led Chicago to victory in Super Bowl

XX. Ditka was a player and an assistant

coach on championship teams in Dallas.

“IF YOU BELIEVE IN

DESTINY, MAYBE THIS IS THE

WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO

BE, WITH A TEAM CALLED

THE PATRIOTS WINNING ON

A SUPER SUNDAY THAT WAS

SET UP AS A STAR-SPANGLED

SHOWCASE TO CELEBRATE

THE STRONG SPIRIT OF

AMERICA AFTER THE

TRAGEDY OF SEPTEMBER 11.”

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch on XXXVI

123

THE GAME, THE TEAMS, THE PLAYERS

Through Super Bowl XXXIX, five officials had worked a record five Super Bowls. They are line judge Bob Beeks, umpire Ron

Botchan, line judge Jack Fette, back judge Al Jury, and back judge Tom Kelleher. Beeks, Botchan, Fette, and Kelleher are all

retired, while Jury remains active, including working Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta. NFL game officials receive postseason

assignments based on their performance during regular-season games.

Alfred, Bruce–II, VII, IX

Ancich, Hendi–XXIV

Anderson, Walt–XXXV

Austin, Gerry–XXIV, XXXI,

XXXV

Baetz, Paul–XXIII, XXVI,

XXXII

Barnes, Tom–XXVIII

Barth, Gene–XVIII

Baur, Bob–II

Baynes, Ron–XXIX, XXXIII

Beeks, Bob–XIV, XVI, XVIII,

XXI, XXIII

Bell, Tom–III, VII

Bergman, Jeff–XXXI

Bergman, Jerry–XIII, XVI,

XVIII, XXIII

Blum, Ron–XXIV, XXVI

Boston, Byron–XXXIV

Botchan, Ron–XX, XXVII,

XXIX, XXXI, XXXIV

Boylston, Bob–XXI, XXVI

Brown, Chad–XXXV

Carey, Don–XXXVII

Carollo, Bill–XXX, XXXVII

Cashion, Red–XX, XXX

Connel, Joe–VI, X, XII

Coukart, Ed–XXXVII

Conway, Al–IX, XIV, XVI, XXII

Creed, Dick–XXVI, XXX

Daopoulos, Jim–XXXIII

Demmas, Art–XIII, XVII, XXV,

XXVIII

Dodez, Ray–XIX

Dolack, Dick–IX

Dooley, Tom–XV

Dorkowski, Don–XXXII

Douglas, Ray–IX, XII

Dreith, Ben–VIII, XV

Fette, Jack–V, VIII, X, XII, XXII

Fincken, Tom–XXIX, XXXI,

XXXIV

Frantz, Earnie–XXIV, XXXI,

XXXIV

Gamber, Hugh–V

Gierke, Terry–XXI

Glass, Bama–XX

Gonzales, Joe–III

Graf, Fritz–V, VIII, XV, XVIII

Green, Scott–XXXVI, XXXVIII

Grier, Johnny–XXII

Haggerty, Pat–XIII, XVI, XIX

Hakes, Don–XVI, XXX, XXXIII

Hamer, Dale–XVII, XXII

Hampton, Donnie–XXVII

Hantak, Dick–XVII, XXVII

Hayes, Laird–XXXVI, XXXVIII

Hensley, Tom–XIX

Hittner, Mark–

XXXVI, XXXVIII

Hochuli, Ed–XXXII, XXXVIII

Holst, Art–VI, XII

Javie, Stan–II, VIII, X, XIV

Jones, Nate–XXVIII

Jorgensen, Dick–XXIV

Jury, Al–XX, XXII, XXIV,

XXVIII, XXXIV

Keck, John–XXX

Kelleher, Tom–IV, VII, XI, XV,

XIX

Kessle, Harry–IV

Knight, Pat–XIII

Kukar, Bernie–XXXIII, XXXVI

Lane, Gary–XXIII, XXXIII

Leavy, Bill–XXXIV

Lepore, Cal–III

Lewis, Bob–XIX

Lisetski, Mike–I

Look, Dean–XIII, XV, XXVII

Lovett, Bill–XXXV

Luckett, Phil–XXXI

Mace, Gil–XVIII, XXI

Mallette, Pat–XXI

Marion, Ed–V, IX, XI

Markbreit, Jerry–XVII, XXI,

XXVI, XXIX

McAulay, Terry—XXXIX

McDonough, John–IV

McElwee, Bob–XXII, XXVIII,

XXXIV

McKenzie, Dick–XXV, XXVII

Merrifield, Ed–XXVI

Miles, Leo–VIII, X, XIX

Millis, Timmie–XXIX, XXXIII

Montgomery, Ben–XXXII,

XXXVIII

Morcroft, Ralph–II, VIII

Morelli, Pete–XXXVI

Murphy, George–III

Musser, Charley–IV, XIV

Nemmers, Larry–XXV

O’Brien, Bill–X

Orem, Dale–XXX

Orr, Don–XVII, XXIV, XXVIII

Paganelli, Carl—XXXIX

Palazzi, Lou–IV, VII, XI

Parker, Walt–III

Parry, Dave–XVII

Patterson, Rick–XXXVII,

XXXIX

Phares, Ron–XXVII, XXIX,

XXXVI

Poole, Jim–XXI, XXVII

Quinby, Bill–XIX

Quirk, Jim–XXXII

Reader, Jack–I, III

Reynolds, Bill–XVII

Rice, Bob–XVI, XX

Rice, Jeff–XXXVI, XXXVIII

Rivers, Sanford–XXXIII

Sabato, Al–I, VI

Schachter, Norm–I, V, X

Schleibaum, Bill–IV

Schleyer, John–XXXII

Schmitz, Bill–XXXV

Seeman, Jerry–XXIII, XXV

Semon, Sid–XXV, XXVIII

Sifferman, Tom–XXXVII,

XXXVIII, XXXIX

Silva, Fred–XIV

Sinkovitz, Frank–XV

Skelton, Bobby–XXIII

Skover, Tony–VII

Slaughter, Gary—XXXIX

Steenson, Scott–XXXI

Steinkerchner, Mark–XXXVII,

XXXIX

Steratore, Tony—XXXIX

Swanson, Bill–XI, XVI

Swearingen, Fred–XIII

Terzian, Armen–XI

Toler, Burl–XIV

Tompkins, Ben–XIV, XVIII

Toole, Doug–XXXII, XXXV

Trepinski, Paul–V

Tunney, Jim–VI, XI, XII

Ulman, Bernie–I, IX

Vandenberg, Ralph–VI

Vaughan, Jack–XX, XXV, XXIX

Vest, Jack–II

Veteri, Tony–II, VII, XII, XV

Veteri Jr., Tony–XXXV

Wedge, Don–XXII

Weidner, Paul–XXX

Wells, Gordon–XVIII, XXIII

Williams, Banks–XXV

Williams, Dale–XX, XXVI,

XXXVII

Wortman, Bob–VI, XII

Young, George–I

Super Bowl Officiating Assignments

I Norm Schachter

II Jack Vest

III Tom Bell

IV John McDonough

V Norm Schachter

VI Jim Tunney

VII Tom Bell

VIII Ben Dreith

IX Bernie Ulman

X Norm Schachter

XI Jim Tunney

XII Jim Tunney

XIII Pat Haggerty

XIV Fred Silva

XV Ben Dreith

XVI Pat Haggerty

XVII Jerry Markbreit

XVIII Gene Barth

XIX Pat Haggerty

XX Red Cashion

XXI Jerry Markbreit

XXII Bob McElwee

XXIII Jerry Seeman

XXIV Dick Jorgensen

XXV Jerry Seeman

XXVI Jerry Markbreit

XXVII Dick Hantak

XXVIII Bob McElwee

XXIX Jerry Markbreit

XXX Red Cashion

XXXI Gerry Austin

XXXII Ed Hochuli

XXXIII Bernie Kukar

XXXIV Bob McElwee

XXXV Gerry Austin

XXXVI Bernie Kukar

XXXVII Bill Carollo

XXXVIII Ed Hochuli

XXXIX Terry McAulay

Super Bowl Referees

124

ECONOMIC AND MARKETING IMPACT

CONOMIC AND

ARKETING

MPACT

Super XXXVIII Host

The Houston Super Bowl XXXVIII Host

Committee and the NFL estimated that

the week’s Super Bowl festival produced

a $250 million to $300 million economic

impact for the city.

“The reality is this is an absolutely

tremendous plus [for Houston],” said

Harris County Commissioner Steve

Radack. “When they see Reliant

Stadium and all the behind-the scenes, it

is going to be catalyst for others to take a

closer look at Houston.”

Super Profits

“The Super Bowl is 25 to 30 percent of

your profit for a year. It means an awful

lot to us.”

—Jerry Anderson, General Aviations

operations manager

Super Impact on Hosts

“You land that Super Bowl and all of a

sudden you’re a Super Bowl city, which

only a handful of cities can say. There

are two ways to look at it. One from the

economic impact, which is obvious and

definitely very beneficial for the city.

The second one is it gives them an

incredible selling tool to go out and help

make money for the upcoming years.”

—Chris Smith, chief strategy officer

of The Marketing Arm

Many Happy Returns

“Economic impact is one reason the

Super Bowl is so widely sought. For a

$3.6 million investment to put on the

game, a metropolitan area stands to net

tremendous returns over a substantial

period of time. Any investment which

garners a 5,000 percent return is a pretty

sound business move.”

—Charles Scurr, president of the South

Florida Host Committee (XXIX)

Does It Get a Trophy, Too?

“The Dallas Cowboys beat the Pitts-

burgh Steelers on Super Sunday, but

the real winner of Super Bowl XXX was

the state of Arizona.”

—Arizona Governor Fife Symington

They Play a Game, Too

“Today’s Super Bowl XXXII is the

world’s premier corporate musical, the

ultimate production in an entertainment

marketplace created and hyped by

multinational capitalists run amok.”

—San Diego Union-Tribune

And Tigger, Too

“With the Super Bowl, we’re like Winnie

the Pooh in a vat of honey. If we had a

chance to host it every year, we would….

This is a sophisticated tourism market,

and it’s hard to find events like the

$292 MILLION IMPACT

Super Bowl XXXIV Generated $292 Million Economic Impact

Super Bowl XXXIV generated a total economic impact of $292 million for the

state of Georgia, according to a study released by Georgia State University of

Atlanta. Highlights of the study, jointly funded by the Atlanta Sports Council

and the NFL included:

• 94,000 people visited metropolitan Atlanta and Georgia for the Super Bowl and

related activities.

• Atlanta received $215 million of the total $292 million economic impact.

• Of the 72,625 spectators attending Super Bowl XXXIV, 65,250 were out-of-town

visitors.

• A total of 29,362 fans visited Georgia but did not attend the game.

• The average visitor spent $350 per day.

• 87 percent of visitors stayed in hotels.

• $48.72 was spent by the average fan for food, beverages, and souvenirs at the

game.

• Corporations spent $11.2 million in Atlanta during Super Bowl week.

• Media companies spent $6.5 million covering the Super Bowl.

“NEARLY A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE JOURNEY TO

THE [SUPER BOWL] AND MILLIONS WORLDWIDE TUNE

IN EACH YEAR TO WATCH HOURS OF COSTLY ADVERTISEMENTS

AND FANTASTIC HALFTIME SPECTACLES…SOMETIME BEFORE

THE BIG KICKOFF IN ATLANTA [SUPER BOWL XXVIII], SEVERAL

CORPORATIONS COLLECTIVELY SPENT SOMEWHERE

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF $3.7 BILLION TO HAVE THEIR

NAME ATTACHED TO THE SUPER BOWL, AND SPONSORSHIPS

LIKE THAT CAN’T GO UNRECOGNIZED.”

—Special Events Magazine

Closing the Deal

“Taking the Super Bowl to

more cities represents a

couple of things. Number

one, the recognition that the

game is a tremendous asset to

the community and the im-

pact of the game goes way

beyond football and can be a

positive for the entire tourism

and travel economy of many,

many different cities. And

s e c o n d l y, it reflects the fact

that so many cities have

invested public monies, either

in total or in part, to build

new stadiums and, in those

circumstances, our ownership

has felt it’s important to

support those investments

with the Super Bowl game.”

—NFL Commissioner

Paul Tagliabue

125

ECONOMIC AND MARKETING IMPACT

Super Bowl that attract almost 200,000

people spending that kind of money.”

—Ft. Lauderdale Convention and Visitor’s

Bureau President Nikki Grossman

Wide-Ranging Effects

“While the Super Bowl has become an

entrenched American tradition in sales,

social, and advertising circles, its reach

now extends into the corporate

motivational arena.”

—Washington Post

Long-Term Implications

“If history is any judge, many companies

will eventually relocate here as a direct

result of corporate executives who came

to see the game and walked away

impressed with the area’s natural beauty,

lifestyle, and business-friendly environ-

ment…To be honest, there are a lot of

people who still think Arizona looks like

Saudi Arabia. The benefits Arizona sees

in January 1996, are not the issue. Our

belief is that the Super Bowl will create

significant long-term benefits.”

—Rich Warnick, Young,

Cunningham, & Co.

Owning Part of History

Less than one month after winning the

Super Bowl [XXXVII], nearly one mil-

lion Tampa Bay Buccaneers champi-

onship T-shirts and hats were sold, sec-

ond only to the sales racked up by the

Denver Broncos when they won their

first Super Bowl in 1998. The buyers

were not from Buccaneers territory only.

About half the sales came from outside

Florida.

Everyone is a Winner

Some 10,000 NFL-licensed items—many

printed with “Oakland Raiders Super

Bowl [XXXVII] Champions”—went to

World Vision, a Christian relief and

development organization assisting 70

million people in 92 countries. For many

years, the NFL has sent its surplus

championship apparel to World Vision

for shipment to any of the 29 countries

in Africa and Eastern Europe to which

the NFL requested its gifts be sent.

New England Patriots Filmography

According to USA Entertainment,

300,000 copies of the New England

Patriots Super Bowl XXXVI Champions

video produced by NFL Films were

ordered by dealers before the release

date, a 33-percent increase over the

previous biggest seller.

—Boston Globe

Don’t Be Late

According to Ken Flanders, the director

of retail operations at Foxboro Stadium,

people began lining up outside the

Patriots’ Pro Shop at 7:30 a.m. to buy

merchandise after Super Bowl XXXVI.

By the end of the day, the entire shop

was virtually void of any championship

paraphernalia.

—Boston Globe

Mmmm Good

One Super Bowl XXXVI advertiser,

AT&T mlife.com, emerged from nowhere

to become a recognizable online brand

overnight. The company’s annual Super

Bowl traffic ratings and analysis found

that AT&T mlife.com registered traffic

for the first time on the Saturday before

Super Bowl XXXVI with 34,000 unique

visitors; traffic then spiked to 681,000

unique visitors on Super Bowl Sunday.

The success prompted the brand’s parent

company AT&T Wireless to become the

sponsor of the Super Bowl XXXVII

Halftime Show.

—Jupiter Media Metrix

XXIX Good For South Florida

The January 29 [1995] game attracted

more visiting fans than any other

championship in NFL history and

pumped $204.5 million into south

Florida.

—Report by Barry University

Direct and Indirect

“Indirect activity—that bigger bleach

buy for cleaning all those hotel sheets,

those extra crates of tomatoes that

restaurants buy from South Dade

farmers, those National Football League

souvenirs bought by folks who don’t even

go to the game—accounts for a big part

of the benefits for a Super Bowl host city:

• San Diego (1988) $136 million total

impact, $70.6 million indirect;

• Tampa (1991) $118 million total

impact, $58 million indirect;

• Los Angeles (1993) $182 million total

impact, $100 million indirect;

• Atlanta (1994) $166 million total

impact, $90 million indirect.

“Indirect activity is a huge compo-

nent,” said Kathleen Davis, coordinator

of Barry University’s Sports Manage-

ment Program. “I think this event is

going to realize some very healthy num-

bers for Miami—probably beyond pro-

jections.”

The Los Angeles study, prepared by

the John E. Anderson Graduate School

of Management at the University of

California Los Angeles, estimated the

1995 game would bring as much as a

$146 million economic boost to the

Miami area, $80.3 million of that from

indirect economic activity.

—Miami Herald

RIPPLE EFFECT

“The Super Bowl has to be

the quintessential opportu-

nity for destination market-

ing—the plum that every city

of any size plots for and

schemes toward. I know. I was

chairperson for the 1992

Super Bowl, and while the

game of the year is won in a

matter of hours, winning the

Super Bowl for one’s home

city can—and in our case,

did—take years. And it

was worth every iota of

effort it took.

“ Few people realize the pos-

itive effects a Super Bowl can

have on a state’s economy,

tourism, and overall image.

The ‘ripple’ can provide an

even more dramatic economic

impact than the game itself.

While more than $100 mil-

lion is likely to be spent in a

host city in the span of a few

winter days, the ripples

spreading through the months

thereafter are harder to track

but no less significant. Savvy

planners use the Super Bowl

to build their area’s future

image and business. They

make the most of their time

in the spotlight to pinpoint

the area as a positive destina-

tion for years to come.”

—Marilyn Carlson Nelson,

Chair, Super Bowl XXVI Task Force

Cheeseheads Unite

The Super Bowl XXXI Champions video

sold 70,000 copies in the city limits of

Green Bay, a city of 100,146. The first

65,000 videos were sold within the first

five days, making it the fastest selling

sports video ever.

Logo Athletic sold more than 650,000

locker-room hats worn by Green Bay

players during the Lombardi Trophy cer-

emony. The previous record was 450,000.

More than 950,000 Super Bowl

programs were sold, beating the previous

record of 700,000 set in 1986.

Sport’s Mecca

The Super Bowl is the Woodstock of

corporate America. Corporate jets are

expected to land in New Orleans every

three-to-four minutes Sunday morn-

ing…The game’s bottom line: an esti-

mated $250 million local economic

impact, a 56 percent increase from New

Orleans’s 1990 Super Bowl. (Source:

MetroVision Research, the economic

development arm of the region’s

Chamber of Commerce.)

On average, Super Bowl visitors are

expected to spend $900-1,000 a day over

two to three days.

—USA Today

Everyone Wins

The Espiritu Community Development

Corporation beat out 14 other non-profit

groups to receive $1 million from the

NFL to transform its Montessori

preschool and charter school into a

Youth Education Town in Phoenix.

126

ECONOMIC AND MARKETING IMPACT

Hungry Fans

The Hostess bakery in Salt Lake City,

which services the Denver area, has been

stocking up on blue-and-orange dyed

Sno Balls for weeks. Last year, they sold

150,000 packages of the colorful cakes

per week during the NFL postseason,

which is more than 10 times what they

normally sell.

—Miami Herald

Super Bowl XXXIII, 1999

Super Bowl XXXVII generated a

total economic impact on San

Diego County of $367 million,

according to a study by Marketing

Information Master, Inc.

Highlights of the Super Bowl

XXXVII study include:

• 133 non-local corporations were

in San Diego spending a total of

$61.6 million during Super Bowl

week, in addition to spending

$3.3 million in site visits prior

to January 2003.

• Super Bowl activities generated

168,600 total hotel room nights

in San Diego.

• Among spectators who stayed

overnight in San Diego, 74

percent stayed three-or-more

nights.

• Of the total 67,603 spectators

attending the game, 60,720 were

out-of-town visitors.

• $12.2 million was spent by

out-of-town media covering

the game.

• 61 percent of male visitors and

56 percent of female visitors to

San Diego during Super Bowl

week were in the 25-to-44-year

old demographic.

• 87 percent of San Diego house-

holds surveyed by phone were

pleased that San Diego hosted

the Super Bowl.

• $7.3 million in increased tax

revenue was generated by the

game.

• The NFL held more than 40

charitable events in San Diego

in the weeks preceding Super

Bowl.

• As part of the first-ever Super

Bowl Latino Leadership

Initiative, the NFL donated

more than $300,000 to the

Latino communities of San

Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

Economic Impact—

Super Bowl XXXVII

FAST FURNITURE?

“Last year we received orders four hours before

kickoff,” said Paul Goldenberg, a large dealer of

big-screen TVs in southern California. Goldenberg

expects to sell more than 500 big screens—at $1,400 to

$4,800—between Friday and Sunday. That’s about five

times more than a typical weekend. Couches and reclin-

ers also see sales bumps Super Bowl week. “Some peo-

ple buy home entertainment centers hours before the

game,” said Edward Gilligan of Levitz Fu r n i t u r e .

—USA Today

“TICKET SALES

FROM THE [SUPER

BOWL XXX]

NFL EXPERIENCE

IN TEMPE AND

THE NFL GOLF

TOURNAMENT

GENERATED

$1 MILLION.”

—Tribune Newspapers

127

ECONOMIC AND MARKETING IMPACT

While there’s no reason to believe that a professional football game should have any connection

to the stock market, few indicators are better known on Wall Street than the Super Bowl Theory.

The Super Bowl indicator holds that a victory by an NFC team or an original (pre-1970 merger)

NFL team—the Browns, Colts, and Steelers—point to a bullish market the following year. An

AFC victory signals a bearish drop in the market. The Super Bowl Theory has been an accurate

indicator 31 times.

Year/SB Dow Jones Close Indicator Winner

1967/I 905.11 Up Packers, NFL

1968/II 943.75 Up Packers, NFL

1969/III 800.36 Down Jets, AFL

1970/IV 838.92 Up Chiefs, AFL*

1971/V 890.20 Up Colts, Old NFL

1972/VI 1,020.02 Up Cowboys, NFC

1973/VII 850.38 Down Dolphins, AFC

1974/VIII 815.24 Down Dolphins, AFC

1975/IX 852.41 Up Steelers, Old NFL

1976/X 1,004.65 Up Steelers, Old NFL

1977/XI 831.17 Down Raiders, AFC

1978/XII 805.01 Down Cowboys, NFC*

1979/XIII 838.74 Up Steelers, Old NFL

1980/XIV 963.99 Up Steelers, Old NFL

1981/XV 875.00 Down Raiders, AFC

1982/XVI 1,046.55 Up 49ers, NFC

1983/XVII 1,258.64 Up Redskins, NFC

1984/XVIII 1,211.57 Down Raiders, AFC

1985/XIX 1,546.67 Up 49ers, NFC

1986/XX 1,895.95 Up Bears, NFC

1987/XXI 1,938.83 Up Giants, NFC

1988/XXII 2,168.57 Up Redskins, NFC

1989/XXIII 2,753.20 Up 49ers, NFC

1990/XXIV 2,633.66 Down 49ers, NFC*

1991/XXV 3,168.83 Up Giants, NFC

1992/XXVI 3,301.11 Up Redskins, NFC

1993/XXVII 3,754.09 Up Cowboys, NFC

1994/XXVIII 3,834.44 Up Cowboys, NFC

1995/XXIX 5,117.12 Up 49ers, NFC

1996/XXX 6,448.27 Up Cowboys, NFC

1997/XXXI 7,908.25 Up Packers, NFC

1998/XXXII 9,181.43 Up Broncos, AFC*

1999/XXXIII 11,497.12 Up Broncos, AFC*

2000/XXXIV 10,786.85 Down Rams, NFC*

2001/XXXV 10,021.50 Down Ravens, AFC

2002/XXXVI 8,341.63 Down Patriots, AFC

2003/XXXVII 10,453.82 Up Buccaneers, NFC

2004/XXXVIII 10,783.01 Up Patriots, AFC*

2005/XXXIX Patriots, AFC

* incorrect

A Super Bull Market

128

TELEVISION-RADIO/ADVERTISING

ELEVISION

ADIO

DVERTISING

“For marketers, the Super Bowl is the

Oscars of advertising. In addition to

being the most-watched TV show each

year, it appeals to all demographics.”

—USA Today

Super Bowl XXXVIII Most-Watched

Television Show Ever

What can get 144 million Americans to

do the same thing on a Sunday? Only the

Super Bowl. This year’s game attracted a

U.S. audience of 144.4 million, making it

the most-watched program in television

history. The 10 most-watched shows in

TV history are Super Bowls. Super Bowl

XXXVIII earned a 41.4 national rating

with a 63 share. It was the fourteenth

consecutive year that the Super Bowl

earned a 40.0-plus rating. Approximately

40 million women watched the New

England Patriots’ victory.

And the Oscar Goes to…

The Super Bowl

More women watch the Super Bowl than

the Academy Awards. This year, 44 per-

cent more women watched Super Bowl

XXXVIII (39.2 million) than watched

the Academy Awards (27.1 million).

—Nielson Media research

High Definition Super Bowl

This [XXXVIII] was the first “high-

definition” Super Bowl, with the entire

game and pregame show shot with HD

cameras. All replays were shown with the

newest digital replay machinery.

Tuning In

In Houston, Super Bowl XXXVIII had a

51.4 rating and 73 share on KHOU

(Channel 11), the fifth-highest rating in

the country and the fourth-highest rating

in history for a Super Bowl host city.

Kansas City, despite not having a team

involved in the Super Bowl, was No. 1

among Nielsen’s 55 metered markets

with a 57.2 rating (71 audience share).

Boston checked in at No. 4 with a 52.2

rating but a whopping 78 share, meaning

four out of every five sets in use were

tuned to the game. Sundays’s game, with

2,922,000 viewers, was the most watched

Patriots game in the Boston market.

The Troops Tuned In

Exhausted U.S. troops watched Super

Bowl XXXVIII at Saddam’s former

palace when the game kicked off at

2:25 a.m. Iraqi time. The troops had to

walk a half-hour from their living quar-

ters in a steady rain to watch the game.

The game between the New England

Patriots and the Carolina Panthers

provided a welcome diversion and a

slice of home for many of the more than

100,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq,

where deadly bombings, shootings and

mortar attacks are a daily occurrence.

“It makes me homesick to watch here,

but my soldiers wanted to see the game,”

said Sgt. Lee Fleming, from Buffalo,

N.Y. “It builds up their morale.” The

game was broadcast live from Houston

on the American Forces Radio and

Television Service to battalion head-

quarters across Iraq.

—Associated Press

High Energy

Sports marketing and research firm

Front Row Marketing Services estimates

that Reliant Energy received $16.5 mil-

lion of its broadcast media value during

Super Bowl XXXVIII from its naming

rights deal for Reliant Stadium. The esti-

mated three minutes and 41 seconds of

exposure was generated from 0:50 of

exterior signage, 0:31 of scoreboard

signage, 0:13 of on-screen graphics and

11 verbal mentions. The rate was based

on the reported $2.25 million cost of a

30-second ad.

—Front Row Marketng Services

Estimated total number of viewers (Based on A.C. Nielsen Figures)

Program Date Network Teams *Total Viewers

Super Bowl XXXVIII February 1, 2004 CBS New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers 144,400,000

Super Bowl XXXVII January 26, 2003 ABC Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders 138,900,000

Super Bowl XXX January 28, 1996 NBC Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers 138,488,000

Super Bowl XXVIII January 30, 1994 NBC Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills 134,800,000

Super Bowl XXXIX February 6, 2005 FOX New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles 133,700,000

Super Bowl XXXII January 25, 1998 NBC Green Bay Packers vs. Denver Broncos 133,400,000

Super Bowl XXVII January 31, 1993 NBC Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills 133,400,000

Super Bowl XXXVI February 3, 2002 FOX New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams 131,700,000

Super Bowl XXXV January 28, 2001 CBS Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants 131,200,000

Super Bowl XXXIV January 30, 2000 ABC St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans 130,744,800

*Watched some portion of the broadcast

10 Most-Watched Television Programs

“FOR ONE MOMENT, FOR

THREE HOURS, THE WORLD

WATCHES AMERICA IN AWE.

I COULD DIE HAPPY ON

MONDAY FOR ME TO BE

INVOLVED IN A SUPER BOWL

PRODUCTION ON SUNDAY.”

—David Hill, FOX Sports president

129

TELEVISION-RADIO/ADVERTISING

Super Brand

“Super Bowl, super sport, super brand.

The NFL is the dominant sport in the

United States today. The Super Bowl will

be watched on television in more than

40 million households, more than three

times the audience that watched the

World Series and six times the audience

that watched last year’s National

Basketball Association finals. The eye-

ball gap is almost as big during the regu-

lar season....No matter how the game

comes out on Sunday, the one guaran-

teed winner will be the NFL.”

—Boston Globe

Super Bowl—Part of TV’s Golden Era

“The Super Bowl matters, and not just to

the teams playing for the championship.

It is the last vestige of network televi-

sion’s golden era, a time when millions

of people gather to watch the same

program.”

—Houston Chronicle

Super Bowl Advertising

The appeal of advertising in the Super

Bowl comes from reaching attentive

consumers, who are of increasingly

important value, marketers say, as the

television landscape undergoes wrench-

ing alterations. “At the affluent end of

the market, our customers have so many

media choices, like the Internet, DVD’s

and 500 channels,” said Mark LaNeve,

general manager of the Cadillac division

of General Motors in Detroit. “But they

take time out of their lives for ‘big event’

television like the Super Bowl, one of the

few properties that exist today where

people are still watching the commer-

cials. It would be incredibly inefficient if

you did all your media buying this way,

and every year we ask if the Super Bowl

makes sense. So far, it has.”

—New York Times

A Cultural Phenomenon

“The Super Bowl gets to be more of a

cultural phenomenon every year. It’s a

great place to launch something.”

—Len Short (executive VP for brand

marketing at AOL) on advertising

during the Super Bowl

High Stakes

On Super Bowl Sunday, the stakes are

huge. The world’s most powerful mar-

keters spent well over a combined $100

million on Super Bowl airtime—all hop-

ing to present the one knockout commer-

cial that folks nationwide talk about

around the water cooler the next day.

Marketers hope that office buzz about

Super Bowl ads evolve into brisk sales.

—USA Today

Advertising Bonanza

“The Super Bowl is uniquely American.

For us, it is the biggest show in America.”

—Mark LaNeve,

Cadillac’s general manager

Happy Super Bowl!

“What really drives the ratings is the fact

that it is a true national holiday.”

—CBS Sports president Sean McManus

Super Bowl XXXV Telecast by the Numbers

CBS used the following hardware to televise Super Bowl XXXV, The Super Bowl

Today, and HDTV broadcast from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa:

The Super Bowl Today

• 3 hard cameras in studio configuration

• 7 cabled handheld cameras (2 on jibs)

• 2 RF handheld cameras

• 7 ENG cameras

• 1 Crow’s Nest (pirate ship) remote-

controlled camera

• 3 remote-controlled cameras

• 2 jibs

• 8 Digibeta tape machines

• 1 EVS edit device

• 2 profiles

• 1 SGI

• 2 Pinnacle Dekos

• 3 roving uplink trucks in addition

to site transmission (2 at team

hotels, 1 for beauty shots)

Super Bowl XXXV game coverage

• 83,000 feet of cable

• 17 hard cameras

• 4 hard super slo motion cameras

• 4 cabled handheld cameras

• 2 RF handheld cameras

• 1 umpire camera

• 2 goal post remote-controlled cameras

• 1 blimp

• 1 unmanned POV camera (beauty

shot)

• 1 jib

• 3 Chapman sideline vehicles

• 2 Digibeta tape machines

• 5 EVS super slow motion tape

devices

• 2 EVS edit devices

• 2 profiles

• 1 Infinit

• 2 SGI

• 8 parabolic RF microphones

Super Bowl XXXV HDTV Broadcast

• 6 hard cameras

• 2 handheld cameras

• 6 HD cam tape machines

• 1 profile

• 1 SGI

• 1 Pinnacle Deko

The Super Bowl brings to a boil the competitive and creative juices of

just about everyone, be they a coach, player, fan, or ad director. The

NFL, television, and advertising had been a winning trifecta throughout

the post-World War II era. But Super Bowls lifted this success to a much

loftier level. Then came Super Bowl XVI.

San Francisco fans recall XVI as the first of the 49ers’ five NFL c h a m -

p i o n s h i p s .

Television and advertising people recall the socko rating: 49.1—the

highest ever for a live television event. A fluke? Hardly. Super Bowl XVII

between Miami and Washington hung up a 48.6 rating.

In fact, eight of the 15 top-rated shows in television history are Super

Bowls, and the top 10 most-watched shows of all time are all Super

Bowls, according to A.C. Nielsen.

The Game Within the Game

130

TELEVISION-RADIO/ADVERTISING

Super Commercials

“The Super Bowl is the one time of the

year when the viewers look forward to

the commercials. It’s a one-of-a-kind

event reaching everybody: men, women,

children, and pets. If you’re trying to

stand out, it’s the place to be.”

—Jon Mandel, Mediacom

Prom Night

“Super Bowl Sunday is the day the

advertising business faces itself. If we’re

about inventing desire, then it’s the most

significant prom, and the king and

queen had better exude sex appeal.”

—Marian Salzman, Young & Rubicam

Not Afraid to Look

“When you go to a focus group, people

always say, ‘I never watch the ads.’ But

the Super Bowl is the only program

where people are proud to say they

watched the ads.”

—David Blum, Eisner & Associates

Instant Exposure

A Super Bowl ad is unlike any other. It

can catapult a company from obscurity

to household-name status. For estab-

lished brands, the spot has helped create

new images or buzz.

—Brill’s Content Magazine

More on the Ad Game

“It’s the advertising championship. No

matter what you are selling, you know

buyers from every category are out there

watching the game.”

—Jerry Della Femina,

advertising executive

Quality Time

It [the Super Bowl] is now about the

only time America sits down together to

watch television.

—Advertising Age

Women’s Favorite, Too

“Women watch the Super Bowl more

than the championship of any other male

sport. An estimated 57 million women

watched Super Bowl XXXII, [which was]

about 40 percent of all viewers.”

Viewer Friendly

“The networks want the crown jewel. It’s

a flagship property they can use to sell

themselves.”

—Keith Bruce, director of sports

marketing, Foote, Cone & Belding

Highest-Rated TV Program

SuperBowl.com explains, “The Super

Bowl, the NFL’s championship game, is

annually the nation’s highest-rated TV

program and the most-watched single-

day sporting event.”

Advertising Bonanza

The Super Bowl is typically the biggest

day of the year for advertising as well as

for football, as marketers spend an esti-

mated $150 million to $200 million to

run commercials before, during and after

the game. Those spots are supplemented

with print ads, promotions, online cam-

paigns and publicity—at a cost of tens of

millions more —all intended to stimu-

late viewership levels that sometimes

climb to as high as half the American

population.

—New York Times

Lights, Camera, Action

ABC used 40 cameras at Qualcomm

Stadium for Super Bowl XXXVII,

including one robotic camera fixed on

each goal line, one remote camera on

each goal post, “Ump Cam” on the

umpire’s cap and “Sky Cam,” which was

suspended above the playing field. There

were 31 control trucks, mobile units and

office trailers parked outside the

stadium. Twenty miles of camera and

microphone cable was used, and more

than 300 people worked the game for

ABC. Super Bowl XXXVII was broadcast

in HDTV as ABC used seven high-

definition cameras.

—San Diego Union-Tribune

Price for 30-second commercial

XXXIX 2005 $2,300,000

XXXVIII 2004 $2,200,000

XXXVII 2003 $2,100,000

XXXVI 2002 $1,900,000

XXXV 2001 $2,100,000

XXXIV 2000 $1,900,000

XXXIII 1999 $1,600,000

XXXII 1998 $1,300,000

XXXI 1997 $1,200,000

XXX 1996 $1,085,000

XXIX 1995 $1,150,000

XXVIII 1994 $900,000

XXVII 1993 $850,000

XXVI 1992 $850,000

XXV 1991 $800,000

XXIV 1990 $700,000

XXIII 1989 $675,000

XXII 1988 $645,000

XXI 1987 $600,000

XX 1986 $550,000

XIX 1985 $525,000

XVIII 1984 $368,000

XVII 1983 $400,000

XVI 1982 $324,000

XV 1981 $275,000

XIV 1980 $222,000

XIII 1979 $185,000

XII 1978 $162,000

XI 1977 $125,000

X 1976 $110,000

IX 1975 $107,000

VIII 1974 $103,000

VII 1973 $88,000

VI 1972 $86,000

V 1971 $72,000

IV 1970 $78,000

III 1969 $55,000

II 1968 $54,000

I 1967 $42,000

Source: NFL Research (rates are set by the

networks, not by the NFL).

Super Ad Rate

“FOX TV NETWORK AND

STATIONS GENERATED UP TO

$190 MILLION IN GROSS

REVENUES ON SUPER BOWL

SUNDAY, SETTING A

SINGLE-DAY REVENUE RECORD

FOR ANY NETWORK.”

—Electronic Media

• 30-second ads during game:

approximately 60

• Average cost: $1.9 million

• FOX cameras used during game:

27 (regular season: 12)

• FOX tape machines: 18 (10)

• Length of audio, fiber-optic, and

video cable used to hook the game

into FOX’s telecast: 125,000 feet

• FOX staffers working the game:

250

• Sold-out hotel rooms in

New Orleans metro area: 30,000

• Additional tourists expected

during Super Bowl week: 125,000

• Mardi Gras parades that had

to be rescheduled because of

Super Bowl: 6

Super Bowl XXXVI

Fun Fa c t s

131

TELEVISION-RADIO/ADVERTISING

Over the Air

The CBS Radio/Westwood One broad-

cast of Super Bowl XXXVII was heard

on more than 575 domestic stations and

in more than 170 countries and ships at

sea on the American Forces Radio

Network.

Super Bowl Plays to Big Room

The Super Bowl “is the biggest audience

you can reach at a single time in the

world.”

—Pat Fallon, Chairman of

Fallon Advertising Agency

Air Time

During the week of Super Bowl XXXIII,

ESPN used a staggering 33 announcers

to fill more than 150 hours on the main

network, ESPN2, ESPN News, and

ESPN Radio.

—Miami Herald

Super TV By the Numbers

SUPER AVG TOTAL VIEWERS

BOWL SEASON DATE NETWORK RATING SHARE HOMES (000) (MILLONS) TEAMS

I 1966 Jan. 15, 1967 CBS 22.6 43 12,410 39.9 GREEN BAY/Kansas City

I 1966 Jan. 15, 1967 NBC 18.5 36 10,160 35.6 GREEN BAY/Kansas City

II 1967 Jan. 14, 1968 CBS 36.8 68 20,610 51.3 GREEN BAY/Oakland

III 1968 Jan. 12, 1969 NBC 36.0 70 20,520 54.5 NY JETS/Baltimore

IV 1969 Jan. 11, 1970 CBS 39.4 69 23,050 59.2 KANSAS CITY/Minnesota

V 1970 Jan. 17, 1971 NBC 39.9 75 23,980 58.5 BALTIMORE/Dallas

VI 1971 Jan. 16, 1972 CBS 44.2 74 27,450 67.3 DALLAS/Miami

VII 1972 Jan. 14, 1973 NBC 42.7 72 27,670 67.7 MIAMI/Washington

VIII 1973 Jan. 13, 1974 CBS 41.6 73 27,540 63.2 MIAMI/Minnesota

IX 1974 Jan. 12, 1975 NBC 42.4 72 29,040 71.3 PITTSBURGH/Minnesota

X 1975 Jan. 18, 1976 CBS 42.3 78 29,440 73.3 PITTSBURGH/Dallas

XI 1976 Jan. 09, 1977 NBC 44.4 73 31,610 81.9 OAKLAND/Minnesota

XII 1977 Jan. 15, 1978 CBS 47.2 67 34,410 102.0 DALLAS/Denver

XIII 1978 Jan. 21, 1979 NBC 47.1 74 35,090 96.6 PITTSBURGH/Dallas

XIV 1979 Jan. 20, 1980 CBS 46.3 67 35,330 97.8 PITTSBURGH/LA Rams

XV 1980 Jan. 25, 1981 NBC 44.4 63 34,540 94.1 OAKLAND/Philadelphia

XVI 1981 Jan. 24, 1982 CBS 49.1 73 40,020 110.2 SAN FRANCISCO/Cincinnati

XVII 1982 Jan. 30, 1983 NBC 48.6 69 40,480 109.0 WASHINGTON/Miami

XVIII 1983 Jan. 22, 1984 CBS 46.4 71 38,880 105.2 LA RAIDERS/Washington

XIX 1984 Jan. 20, 1985 ABC 46.4 63 39,390 115.9 SAN FRANCISCO/Miami

XX 1985 Jan. 26, 1986 NBC 48.3 70 41,490 127.1 CHICAGO/New England

XXI 1986 Jan. 25, 1987 CBS 45.8 66 40,030 119.7 NY GIANTS/Denver

XXII 1987 Jan. 31, 1988 ABC 41.9 62 37,120 114.6 WASHINGTON/Denver

XXIII 1988 Jan. 22, 1989 NBC 43.5 68 39,320 110.8

SAN FRANCISCO/Cincinnati

XXIV 1989 Jan. 28, 1990 CBS 39.0 63 35,920 109.0 SAN FRANCISCO/Denver

XXV 1990 Jan. 27, 1991 ABC 41.9 63 39,010 112.1 NY GIANTS/Buffalo

XXVI 1991 Jan. 26, 1992 CBS 40.3 61 37,120 119.7 WASHINGTON/Buffalo

XXVII 1992 Jan. 31, 1993 NBC 45.1 66 41,990 133.4 DALLAS/Buffalo

XXVIII 1993 Jan. 30, 1994 NBC 45.5 66 42,860 134.8 DALLAS/Buffalo

XXIX 1994 Jan. 29, 1995 ABC 41.3 62 39,400 125.2

SAN FRANCISCO/San Diego

XXX 1995 Jan. 28, 1996 NBC 46.0 68 44,110 138.5 DALLAS/Pittsburgh

XXXI 1996 Jan. 26, 1997 FOX 43.3 65 42,000 128.9 GREEN BAY/New England

XXXII 1997 Jan. 25, 1998 NBC 44.5 67 43,630 133.4 DENVER/Green Bay

XXXIII 1998 Jan. 31, 1999 FOX 40.2 61 39,992 127.5 DENVER/Atlanta

XXXIV 1999 Jan. 30, 2000 ABC 43.3 63 43,618 130.7 ST. LOUIS/Tennessee

XXXV 2000 Jan. 28, 2001 CBS 40.4 61 41,270 131.2 BALTIMORE/NY Giants

XXXVI 2001 Feb. 3, 2002 FOX 40.4 61 42,664 131.7 NEW ENGLAND/St. Louis

XXXVII 2002 Jan. 26, 2003 ABC 40.7 61 43,433 138.9 TAMPA BAY/Oakland

XXXVIII2003 Feb. 1, 2004 CBS 41.4 63 44,908 144.4 NEW ENGLAND/Carolina

XXXIX 2004 Feb. 6, 2005 FOX 41.1 62 45,070 133.7

NEW ENGLAND/Philadelphia

RATING is a percentage of all TV Households watching the Super Bowl. SHARE is a percentage of all Households Using TV watching the Super Bowl. Super Bowl winner in ALL CAPS

132

TELEVISION-RADIO/ADVERTISING

Don’t Change the Channel

The Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show

drew a 40.1/61 rating on ABC and held

97 percent of the previous quarter hour’s

audience. The halftime show far out-

rated the competition, easily beating the

2.5/4 that the special “Saturday Night

Live” received on NBC.

Record Boston Market

Super Bowl XXXVI was the most-

watched program in Boston television

history. The Boston market produced a

56.1 rating and 78 audience share, mean-

ing a Boston-record 1.3 million homes

and a projected 3.1 million viewers were

watching.

—Boston Globe

And the Oscar Goes to…

the Super Bowl

The Vince Lombardi Trophy vs. Oscar?

It’s no contest. Among women of all ages,

according to Nielsen Television Ratings,

the results are in and the Super Bowl is

the big winner.

Super Bowl XXXVII: 38,297,000

2002 Academy Awards: 25,793,000

SB Advantage: +48%

Among Women 18-34

Super Bowl XXXVII: 9,418,000

2002 Academy Awards: 5,088,000

SB Advantage: +85%

Among Women 18-49

Super Bowl XXXVII: 20,416,000

2002 Academy Awards: 12,151,000

SB Advantage: +68%

Among Women 25-54

Super Bowl XXXVII: 19,946,000

2002 Academy Awards: 13,298,000

SB Advantage: +50%

Have No Fear, U2 is Here

Nielsen estimates that more than seven

times as many viewers (82.5 million

versus 11.5 million) were watching the

Super Bowl Halftime Show featuring U2

than the scantily clad Playmates on

NBC’s Fear Factor.

—Daily Variety Gotham

A Word From Our Sponsors

The countdown was on. Board rooms

buzzed. Computers hummed. Story

boards shuffled. The goal: Win the Super

Bowl ad game.

It is generally agreed that Super Bowl

XVIII brought to more than 100 million

viewers the landmark commercial that

launched the annual Ad Bowl. It was the

1984 spot created by Chiat/Day of Los

Angeles, which introduced Apple

Macintosh computers.

New Wave

The first Internet company to advertise

during the Super Bowl was

Autobytel.com. The Irvine, California,

car dealer had been in business for about

two years when it bought an ad in the

1997 Super Bowl for $1.2 million. It

returned to the Super Bowl in 1998, and

the commercial led to a 1,700 percent

increase in visits to its website after half-

time. Purchase-request activity was up

104 percent after halftime, and up 78

percent postgame.

—Miami Herald

Tuned In

Nielsen reported that 44.1 percent of

Miami-Fort Lauderdale homes with tele-

vision sets watched Super Bowl XXIX on

Channel 10, making the game the high-

est-rated sporting event on south Florida

television in the 1990s, according to local

TV researchers.

—Miami Herald

Radio Daze

Forty-seven radio stations are originat-

ing sports call-in shows from the lobby of

the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami

this week. At the 1986 Super Bowl, there

were just five stations, and only 18 in

1993.

—Miami Herald,

Super Bowl XXIX, 1995

NFC Loves ABC

With the Buccaneers victory in Super

Bowl XXXVII, the NFC is now 7-0 in

Super Bowls broadcast on ABC.

THE FIRST “MILLION-DOLLAR

MINUTE” IN TELEVISION

ADVERTISING OCCURRED

DURING SUPER BOWL XIX.

THE PRICE TO AN ADVERTISER

FOR A 30-SECOND SPOT ON

NBC’S TELECAST OF SUPER

BOWL XXVII WAS ALMOST

$900,000…OR CLOSE TO

$30,000 PER SECOND.

TV T

IME

The average price for a

3 0 -second commercial

airing during the 1995

Super Bowl [XXIX]

on ABC topped the

$1 million mark for the

first time…The Super

Bowl is still the only place

an advertiser can reach a

large target audience all at

once. You can bet an ad on

the Super Bowl is going to

be seen by a company’ s

customers, competitors,

and its employees.

—USA Today

SUPER RATINGS

Super Bowl XXXVII was, at

the time, the most-watched

television program in

history with 138.9 million

viewers.

Ten local markets pulled

ratings for Super Bowl

XXXVII in the 50.0 range,

including the top market of

the day, San Diego, which

had its highest Super Bowl

rating ever (53.9). Tampa

was second (52.7), followed

by Pittsburgh (51.5), Denver

(50.8), and Buffalo (49.8) in

the top five. The Super Bowl

XXXVII telecast was the

highest-rated show for the

week in all 55 Nielsen-

metered markets.

133

INTERNATIONAL MEGA EVENT

The Whole World is Watching

Super Bowl XXXVII was televised in 220

countries, with live broadcasts in 27

languages, including these originating

from the stadium: Dutch, English,

French, German, Italian, Japanese,

Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

China’s Watching

The game was broadcast live on Central

Television’s cable sports channel,

CCTV-5. The estimated audence:

300 million. “It’s not just the sport. It’s

all about American culture,” said

Michael Lu, a buying manager for a local

sportswear company. For the first time, a

crew from China was among the 14 tele-

vision and radio stations from 10 coun-

tries broadcasting the game [XXXVIII]

on site from Houston.

—Associated Press

The World Tunes In

In the United Kingdom, more than one

million viewers tuned in to watch the

Super Bowl on either Channel 5 or

BSKYB. In Canada, Global TV recorded

a peak audience of 9.8 million viewers,

plus more then 1.7 million RDS (French

language) viewers. Televisa, Mexico’s top

network, posted a 7.8 rating, up 38

percent from previous year. In addition,

more than 36 million watched Super

Bowl XXXVII highlights and the

halftime show live on Globo Television,

Brazil’s number-one network.

North of the Border

Super Bowl XXXIII attracted an average

of 3,399,000 viewers, the largest Super

Bowl audience in Canadian TV history

and five percent higher than last year.

—Toronto Star

World Hooked on Super Bowl

“Perhaps the best Super Bowl [XXXVIII]

ever played. And that, ladies and gentle-

men, is why a couple of billion people

around the globe are hooked on the

sport. The greatest quarterback duel the

title game has ever seen. What they all

did, Patriots and Panthers alike, was ele-

vate sport into something noble.”

—Boston Globe

Oh, Canada...

In Canada, Super Bowl XXXIV went

head-to-head with the Genie Awards—

the Canadian equivalent of the Academy

Awards. Because viewers tuned to the

Super Bowl by more than an 8-1 margin,

this year’s Genie Awards were moved to

Monday.

—New York Times

…You’re Looking Live

According to ABC announcer Brent

Musburger, “The Super Bowl is global

theater.”

ATCHING FROM

ROUND THE

ORLD

Scores of United States

Marines stayed up all night

at an American military

base in Kuwait to watch

the Super Bowl [XXV].

The Marines, all members

of the 45,000-strong 1st

Marine Expeditionary

Force based in Camp

Pendleton, California, held

up banners, smiled,

laughed, sang, applauded

and painted their faces.

More than 5,000 Super

Bowl programs were sent

by the NFL overseas to the

troops.

—USA Today

NTERNATIONAL

EGA

VENT

How Do You Say “Touchdown”

In Chinese?

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Chad

Lewis provided color analysis on the

first-ever Chinese Super Bowl TV

broadcast alongside a play-by-play

partner he had never met and only knew

as “Mr. Han.” “I’ve never even broadcast

a game in English, not even a junior high

game,” Lewis said. “So to broadcast the

Super Bowl in Mandarin Chinese is

really something. I’m studying as much

vocabulary as I can, listening to tapes,

trying to get the accent right.”

—Philadelphia Daily News

“FOOTBALL—ESPECIALLY

THE SUPER BOWL—

REPRESENTS THE SOUL

OF AMERICA TO THE FRENCH.

IT’S A LIVE SPECTACLE

AND DRAWS A BIG

AUDIENCE EVEN WITH THE

TIME DIFFERENCE.”

—Enrique Shutany, Canal+/France

“THE SUPER

BOWL REMAINS

ONE OF THE MOST

E X CITING

T E L E V I S I O N

SPORTS EVENTS

OF THE YEAR…

[ A S] MILLIONS OF

PEOPLE AROUND

EUROPE WILL

B E … S TAYING UP

THROUGH THE

NIGHT TO WATC H

THE GAME.”

—Sky Sports commentator

Nick Halling

134

INTERNATIONAL MEGA EVENT

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

American Samoa

Angola

Anguilla

Antarctica

Antigua &

Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Aruba

Ascension Island

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bermuda

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia

Botswana

Brazil

British Virgin

Islands

Brunei

Bulgaria

Burkina

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Cayman Islands

Central African

Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Congo

Costa Rica

Cote d’Ivoire

Croatia

Cuba

Curacao

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Diego Garcia

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican

Republic

East Timor

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

England

Equitorial

Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

French Guyana

French Polynesia

Futuna Islands

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Greenland

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Guam

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Johnson Atoll

Jordan

Kazakstan

Kenya

Kosovo

Kosrae

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macau

Macedonia

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Martinique

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mayotte

Mexico

Micronesia

Moldova

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Montserrat

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

(Burma)

Namibia

Nepal

Netherlands

New Caledonia

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Palestine

Panama

Papua New

Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Qatar

Reunion

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saipan

San Marino

Sao Tome &

Principe

Saudi Arabia

Scotland

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovak Republic

Slovenia

Somalia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sri Lanka

St. Barthelemy

St. Christopher

& Nevis

St. Kitts

St. Lucia

St. Maarten

St. Pierre and

Miquelon

St. Vincent &

The Grenadines

Sudan

Suriname

Swaziland

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Tahiti

Taiwan

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Togo

Trinidad &

Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Turks & Caicos

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab

Emirates

United States

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vatican City

Venezuela

Vietnam

Wake Island

Wales

Yemen

Zaire

Zambia

Zimbabwe

International Broadcasters made Super Bowl XXXIX available

to an estimated audience of 1 billion in 222 countries and territories.

(Listed in alphabetical order below)

A Super Bowl Appearance is Seen Around the Wo r l d

135

MEDIA/INTERNET

EDIA

NTERNET

In the Spotlight

Hosting a Super Bowl, which has evolved

into a pop culture phenomenon, (and by

the way there is a game, too) has become

a sought-after marketing tool. No one

underestimates media impact. From the

season-long buildup to reach the big

game in Houston to postcard-like scenes

of the city to tales of unbridled hospi-

tality, the Super Bowl city is always in

the spotlight.

—Fort Worth Star Telegram

Reporting Live

Tom Brokaw was in his seat a full three

hours before Super Bowl XXX. “I’m an

event guy,” the NBC News anchor said.

“This is great...I have watched this thing

[the Super Bowl] grow up. It’s amazing.”

—Arizona Republic

Credential Crush

There were 338 credentials issued to

members of the media at Super Bowl I in

Los Angeles. For recent Super Bowls, the

NFL has issued an average of 3,100

media-related credentials, depending on

the requirements of the originating

television network.

SuperBowl.com Attracts 1.18 Million

SuperBowl.com again lived up to its

billing as the premier site for fans to

experience the world’s largest sporting

event by drawing 1.18 million unique

users, a 58 percent increase over the

745,000 unique users for Super Bowl

XXXV.

Boston Uncommon

Boston.com recorded more than six

million page views by 6 p.m. on Monday,

February 4, 2002, as fans posted tributes

on message boards, read articles from

Boston Globe columnists and cast their

votes for the greatest season in New

England sports history.

—Boston Globe

Monday’s Sales Probably Were

Pretty Good, Too

The 1994 Super Bowl was a boon to the

city of Atlanta and to the Atlanta Journal-

Constitution. The paper reported circula-

tion of 747,929 on Super Bowl Sunday,

the best-ever numbers for the Sunday

edition.

—Editor & Publisher

Start the Presses

On January 24, the Miami Herald ran the

first of 12 special sections, the largest of

which was a 14-page tab on Super Bowl

Sunday. The Herald bumped up the press

run for each day of the special sections

by 40,700-50,000 copies, with the largest

bump of 80,000 on game day. The

Herald’s regular daily circulation is

350,000, with 477,000 on Sundays.

Online Sales Hot

$2.2 million worth of Patriots’ merchan-

dise was sold through NFLShop.com the

week after Super Bowl XXXVI, the

largest-ever seven-day sales period for

the online merchant.

—Sports Illustrated and

Sports Business Journal

Super Bowl Impact Unsurpassed

“In terms of reach and impact, there’s

nothing like the Super Bowl.”

—Mike Sheehan, the president of

Boston ad agency Hill Holiday

Connors Cosmopulos, on advertising

during the Super Bowl

SUPER BOWL XXX:

SIX MILLION HITS

SuperBowl.com was

the most successful

website in the short

history of the Internet.

With more than six

million hits on game

day (January 28, 1996),

it generated the most

traffic any sports site

had sustained in

a single day.

NTERNET

LITZ

For Super Bowl

X X X I V, 17 of

the 60 ads during

the broadcast

were bought

by Internet

c o m p a n i e s ,

compared with

1 for Super Bowl

XXXI in 1997.

—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“THE SUPER BOWL

IS ONE OF THE MOST

IMPORTANT MEDIA

EVENTS IN AMERICAN

CULTURE.”

—Robert Hanson, Levi’s

THE NFL HELPED

ADD A WRINKLE TO SPORTS

HISTORY WHEN IT ALLOWED

FANS TO HELP DECIDE

THE SUPER BOWL XXXV

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

BY VOTING ONLINE

ON SUPERBOWL.COM.

136

SUPER BOWL RING/TROPHY

“Forget about being MVP, forget about

being in the Pro Bowl. Those things are

nice consolation prizes if you don’t get a

Super Bowl ring.”

—Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh Steelers

“The ring, frankly, is a way we express

ourselves in sports. You ask any golfer in

America what it means to put on a green

jacket at the Masters, and that’s the same

feeling.”

—Art Modell

“The Super Bowl ring is the single most

important, most impressive symbol of

being a champion in all of sports.”

—Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys owner

“I’ve always said, no matter how many

rings I’ve earned after the first one, the

first one would always be the most

important, because there’s nothing like

the first. The first one was the

greatest feeling that I had.”

—Shannon Sharpe,

Baltimore Ravens tight end,

who won two with Denver

and one with Baltimore

“The ring is everything. There are so

many guys who play this game that have

never gotten the opportunity to play in a

Super Bowl, let alone win one. There’s

no sense in playing if you can’t ever get

the feeling of standing on top of the

mountain and saying, ‘I’m the king of

the hill.’”

—Marshall Faulk, St. Louis Rams

“People ask all the time: What’s your

favorite ring? It’s like asking: Who’s your

favorite kid? I’ve got three Super Bowl

rings. I also have three kids. I can’t pick

out which one of those is my favorite.”

—Randy Cross, former

San Francisco 49er and

current CBS Sports analyst

UPER

OWL

ING

ROPHY

The Ring’s the Thing

“Whenever you can look at something,

and you can feel what it felt like for a

year of your life, it’s special. Every single

ring I have, the experiences we went

through, I feel it. I look at this third one,

I smell the grass, I hear the crowd. I

remember being on the field before the

Super Bowl with my sons…everything

was encapsulated in this ring when I

look at it…and that’s why it means so

much to me.”

—Tedy Bruschi

New England Patriots

“The [Super Bowl] ring is the single

most important thing in sports. It’s the

best of all the world championship

rings.”

—Joe Theismann, Washington Redskins

“Money comes and goes, the fame comes

and goes, but the ring is the reminder of

the group of men that you sacrificed and

played with.”

—The Tennessean

“IT’S A SYMBOL OF

EXCELLENCE. IT’S A SYMBOL

THAT YOU ARE THE DEAL, THE

BEST TO EVER DO IT. WHAT

IT ALL BOILS TO IS THAT

YOU WANT TO WIN A

SUPER BOWL RING.”

—Torry Holt, St. Louis Rams

ISTORY OF

OZELLE

ROPHY

Super Bowl XXV marked the

initial presentation of the

Pete Rozelle Trophy to the

most valuable player of the

game. It was named in

honor of former NFL

Commissioner Pete Rozelle,

who led the league for 30

years, from 1960 until he

retired in 1989. Running

back Ottis Anderson of the

New York Giants was the

recipient of the first

Rozelle Trophy.

OMBARDI

ROPHY

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is

presented each year to the winner

of the Super Bowl for permanent

possession. It is a memorial to the late

coach of the Green Bay Packers, who

won Super Bowls I and II, plus NFL

championships in 1961, 1962, 1965,

1966, and 1967. Following four years as

the AFL-NFL World Championship

Game Trophy, it was renamed for

Lombardi in 1970.

The Lombardi Trophy is handcrafted

of sterling silver, stands 21 inches high,

and weighs seven pounds. A stylized

football of regulation size sits atop a

three-sided base with convex faces.

Each trophy is valued at $25,000. It is

crafted by Tiffany & Co.

“The [Vince Lombardi] trophy is

treated like a celebrity here. If it goes

to a different floor of the building,

employees try to sneak a peek.”

—Scott Shibley, vice president of business

sales for Tiffany’s, the trophy’s maker

“YOU CAN NEVER TAKE THIS

AWAY FROM US. THE RINGS,

EVERYTHING THAT WE’VE

ACCOMPLISHED. THIS IS

SOMETHING SO MANY GUYS

HAVE WORKED SO HARD

FOR, SACRIFICED SO MANY

THINGS—FAMILY, KIDS,

SO MANY THINGS IN

THEIR LIFE—TO BE A

WORLD CHAMPION.”

New England Patriots

safety Rodney Harrison

The People’s Trophy

“The Lombardi Trophy represents a

world championship for the Baltimore

Ravens, for the city of Baltimore, and

that was a very special thing. The Super

Bowl ring represents a Super Bowl vic-

tory for Brian Billick, for Shannon

Sharpe, for Ray Lewis—it’s a very per-

sonal, individual thing. It’s something

that’s a source of pride and satisfaction

that I don’t think anybody without one

can truly understand.”

—Brian Billick, Baltimore

Ravens head coach

137

SUPER BOWL WEEK—PREGAME, HALFTIME & POSTGAME EVENTS

But yesterday’s celebration for the NFL’s

Super Bowl [XXXVIII] champion Pat-

riots topped it all....That this community

got to share it with them is a gift we can

never repay and never, ever forget.”

—Boston Herald

A Lasting Impression

“When all the hoopla is over, when the

teams have gone home, and when we all

go back to doing what we ordinarily do,

there will remain in this community a

facility to serve the constructive needs of

young people well into the next century.”

—Dr. Herb Carter, President, United

Way of Greater Los Angeles, discussing

NFL Youth Education Towns

The Place to Be

Super Bowl Week brought to the Valley

more celebrities, more entertainment,

more limousines, and more parties than

ever before....

More than 3,000 visiting journalists

filed more than 10 million words during

Super Bowl Week about the goings-on

in our town.

—Arizona Republic

Super Bowl XXX, 1996

It’s a Super Week

“I think the Super Bowl hosted by San

Diego in 1988 [XXII] set in motion the

type of event we’re now hosting. In 1988,

we were the first city to feature corporate

tents, a concert series, and a public fire-

works display. That helped change the

focus…from the game to a much more

expanded public event.”

—Chuck Nichols, executive director,

Super Bowl XXXII Host Committee

What an Experience

The one day NFL Experience attendance

record was set the day before Super Bowl

XXXVII as 60,177 fans visited the

interactive theme park presented by

AOL, on Saturday, January 25, 2003.

Halftime is Intense

“It’s amazing, all the reporters, all the

workers, all the volunteers, all the

people. What a spectacle. Look at us,

we’ve got 1,000 people and we’re cram-

ming them into a 10-minute show. Ten

minutes, can you imagine that? The

preparation is intense. Everything is

laid out to the last second. I just look

around and say, ‘Thank God I’m not

the choreographer.’”

—Smokey Robinson, on the

Super Bowl XXXII Halftime Show

Show of Force

“To add some excitement and to show

the American taxpayer and those in

other nations our air power…it’s an

incredible opportunity.”

—Maj. Eric Schnaible, Air Force

spokesman, on the flyover

before Super Bowl XXXII

Is it the Fourth of July?

The night before Super Bowl XXXVII,

San Diego put on the biggest fireworks

display in local history. Six barges in

San Diego Bay shot off 14,000 shells for

the 21-minute display.

—San Diego Union-Tribune

UPER

OWL

EEK

—P

REGAME

ALFTIME

OSTGAME

VENTS

Super Bowl XXXVIII Main Event

The Main Event, the Host Committee’s

effort to bring people together for a

downtown party, was a huge success,

drawing at least 100,000 on Friday night

and an estimated 150,000 on Saturday.

—Houston Chronicle

Houston Gets Two YET Centers

The NFL has established YET centers in

each of the Super Bowl host cities for the

last 10 years. The league funded two of the

centers in the same city for the first time

[at Super Bowl XXXVIII]. The NFL sup-

plied up to $2 million for the construction

and administration of the centers.

—Houston Chronicle

What an (NFL) Experience

Spreading over more than 800,000 square

feet, the NFL Experience featured more

than 50 interactive games and activities

that together added up to a huge football

theme park that gets bigger and, accord-

ing to the NFL, better every year.

—Houston Chronicle

Pregame Praise

Super Bowl XXXVIII provided America

with another reason to celebrate Sunday,

but not until the National Football

League remembered Houston’s fallen

heroes. In an emotional pregame tribute

that tugged at the hearts of a juiced-up

crowd, the seven Columbia astronauts

who lost their lives a year ago February 1

were honored in the hometown of the

Johnson Space Center.

—USA Today

America’s Heroes Honored

“The [Super Bowl XXXVI] entertain-

ment was a show that was as flag-waving,

hero-thanking, sentimental, loud and

ethnically diverse as possible—some-

thing that reflected the mood of the

country.”

—Boston Globe

The Champions Are Honored

Two years ago, we thought it just

couldn’t get any better than this—

a day of such unmitigated joy and good

spirits that it could never be repeated.

An American flag that

survived the collapse of

the World Trade Center’s

Twin Towers on

September 11 was

featured during the

singing of the National

Anthem of Super Bowl

[XXXVI] Sunday.

ROAD

TRIPES

, B

RIGHT

TARS

“If there was a more moving

spectacle during a Super Bowl

telecast, I don’t remember it.

But I’ll likely remember Bono

bouncing around the oval stage

at Super Bowl XXXVI for years

to come.”

—New York Post

“SUPER BOWL XXXVI

SURPASSES THE OTHERS

BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED

ON THE FIELD, AND OFF IT.”

—New York Times

138

SUPER BOWL WEEK—PREGAME, HALFTIME & POSTGAME EVENTS

TALL ORDER

Cooking jambalaya for 115,000: How

would you like to peel the shrimp for

that dish? Chef Leon West and his

staff did that and more at Super Bowl

XXXI in New Orleans. They pre-

pared food for the NFL Experience

and the “World’s Largest Tailgate

Party.” The grocery list for the

Tailgate Party included:

• 250 gallons of crawfish étouffée

• 8,000 blackened chicken breasts

• 200 gallons of shrimp Creole

• 1,000 pounds of BBQ ribs

• 5,000 Louisiana crabcakes

• 150 gallons of corn and crab bisque

• 350 gallons of jambalaya

• 150 gallons of crawfish Cardinale

• 200 gallons of red beans and rice

• 4,000 crawfish beignets

• 3,000 bratwurst

• 3,000 oyster ravioli

• 3,000 knockwurst

• 2,000 fried oyster po-boys

• 50,000 hot dogs

• 2,000 fried shrimp po-boys

• 10,000 hamburgers

• 1,000 fried catfish

• 200 gallons of seafood gumbo

• 2,000 muffalettas

• 1,500 pounds of rice

• 1,000 heads of romaine lettuce

• 10 gallons of hot sauce

• 1,000 grilled chicken Caesar salads

• 10,000 pizzas

• 1,000 bags of potato chips

—USA Today

CORPORATE HOSPITALITY

VILLAGE AND STADIUM CLUB

The following approximate quantities

were used in the village:

• 2,500 plants

• 2 tons of pier post pilings

• 3,000 feet of pier post rope

• 900 tons of sand

• 260 banners

• 800 centerpieces

• 3,120 pieces of linen

• 19,000 feet of ceiling fabric

• 100,000 cubic feet of asphalt

• 17 tents = 250,000 square feet

• 15 trucks of wood flooring

• 12 trucks of tenting

• In excess of 145,000 sq. ft. of

wood floor

• In excess of 150,000 sq. ft. of

tenting

• 4,700 sheets of plywood

• 280,000 screws for the plywood

• 268 rolls of special new

matting carpet

• 8,000 feet of fence

• 8,000 feet of fence fabric

• Stadium Club is longer than a

football field (one of the tents)

• Parking for more than 100 buses,

175 cars, 80 limousines/sedans

• 24-man crew for flooring and

tenting

• In excess of 40 French glass doors

• 30,000 inches of Cuban sandwiches

• 5,000 pounds of assorted salads

• 14,300 assorted desserts

• 4,400 pounds of beef

• 500 gallons of conch chowder

• 4,000 chicken breasts

• More than 100 volunteers

• 288 man-hours of on-site

construction

• 16,500 beer glasses

• 27,000 soda glasses

• 7,500 wine glasses

• 30,000 pounds of ice

• More than 800 tables and 8,000

chairs

LENDING A HELPING HAND

More than 7,000 volunteers worked

the Super Bowl [XXXII] in San Diego.

Here is a breakdown (many volunteers

work more than one venue):

5,000 for the NFL Experience

400 to move the stage on and off the

field for the halftime show

300 to help with transportation

300 to greet guests at hotels

150 at Corporate Hospitality Village

100 at Taste of the NFL

75 to herd the halftime show’s cast

and dancers on and off the stage

75 for the Stay Cool in School clinic

for 1,000 children

50 for a cheerleading clinic for

500 youngsters

50 utility volunteers

6 bilingual volunteers to assist

foreign guests

HALFTIME

• Time to set up the stage and sound

and lighting for a rock concert at

Qualcomm Stadium: 2-3 days

• Time to set up and break down the

stage for the Super Bowl halftime

show, including the 12-minute

show itself: 27 minutes

• Number of crew members needed

to accomplish this: 2,500

•

Number of pieces making up the

stage: 21 (each the size of a small

truck)

• Total weight of stage and equip-

ment: 10 tons

• Number of stage “scene” sets: 5

—San Diego Union Tribune,

Super Bowl XXXVII

“What the Super Bowl offers to a performer is the largest

live audience that they could ever have. It is the whole

experience. It’s the edge, the fans. No one place, aside

from the Super Bowl, gives performers as much exposure

and excitement. There is nothing like the electricity on

the field. Cher really got into it; Tina Turner really got

into it. It becomes almost spiritual for that performer, ”

explains Lesslee Fitzmorris of American All-Star,

choreographer and director of many pregame shows.

Remnants of the Game

In addition to the $187 million econo-

mists expect to be dropped in Arizona

during Super Bowl [XXX] week, there

will be other tangible goodies: $1 million

donated by the NFL for a new youth

center, $4 million in charities raised by

Super Bowl-related events, improvements

to Sun Devil Stadium, not to mention an

estimated 15 tons of leftover food.

—Arizona Republic

Turnstile Count

Over 140,000 people passed through The

NFL Experience in Atlanta.

—South Florida Business Journal

139

STATISTICS

TATISTICS

Air Show

Jake Delhomme and Tom Brady each

passed for more than 300 yards in Super

Bowl XXXVIII. Only two other quarter-

backs in Super Bowl history have thrown

for more than 300 yards in the same

game. One was Joe Montana and the

other was Dan Marino in Super Bowl

XIX.

Going My Way?

How did fans arrive at Reliant Stadium

for Super Bowl XXXVIII?

Private buses: 35,000-45,000

Cars, taxis: 18,000-28,000

Light rail: 4,000-7,000

Limousines: 3,000-5,000

—Ridgeway International

That’s a Lot of Film!

NFL Films turned around The Super

Bowl XXXVII Champions Video in a

record 16 days, culling from 135,000 feet

of film captured by 22 cameras.

—Sports Illustrated

The Day After

In 1993, more than 40,000 homeward

bound Super Bowl revelers gave

Minneapolis-St. Paul International

Airport its busiest day ever.

—St. Paul Pioneer-Press

Super Relief

Sales of antacid increased 20 percent the

day after Super Bowl Sunday.

—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Super Demographics

According to the Associated Press, 80

percent of Super Bowl ticket holders are

in executive, management, professional,

or sales positions; 35 percent attend the

game on corporate expense accounts; 27

percent own their own companies; 25

percent are corporate officers; and 22

percent are on boards of directors.

At the Stadium

• There were 15 buses used for special

groups at Super Bowl I; 150 buses at

Super Bowl VII; and 1,100 buses and

500 limousines at Super Bowl XXI.

• 60,000 game programs were sold at

XIV in the Rose Bowl, or one for every

1.7 of the record 103,985 in attendance.

The normal program sale ratio is 1 to

8. There were 500,000 XIV programs

sold nationwide.

• Per capita sales at XXIII at Joe

Robbie Stadium in Miami averaged

$36, consisting of $2.9 million at hospi-

tality tents, $1.25 million for novelties,

and $1.35 million in concessions. The

NCAA Final Four had a $7 per capita

average the same year.

• 100 extra commercial flights were

added to the schedule for Miami

International Airport for XXIX. There

were 400 helicopter landings at San

Diego Jack Murphy Stadium for XXII.

Number 12, Please

If it’s in the numbers, the number is 12.

Twenty-three starting quarterbacks in the

Super Bowl have worn number 12; 13 have

been winners. Conversely, quarterbacks

wearing number 7 have won only 3 times

in 10 games. The winning 12s: Joe

Namath (Jets, III), Roger Staubach

(Cowboys, VI, XII), Bob Griese (Dolphins,

VII, VIII), Terry Bradshaw (Steelers, IX,

X, XIII, XIV), Ken Stabler (Raiders, XI),

and Tom Brady (Patriots, XXXVI,

XXXVIII, XXXIX). Those who wore

number 12 and lost: Staubach (X, XIII),

Griese (VI), Jim Kelly (Bills, XXV, XXVI,

XXVII, XXVIII), Stan Humphries

(Chargers, XXIX), Chris Chandler

( Falcons, XXXIII) and Rich Gannon

(Raiders, XXXVII).

Other winning starters include three

who have worn 16 seven times: L e n

Dawson (Chiefs, IV), Jim Plunkett

(Raiders, XV, XVIII), and Joe Montana

(49ers, XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV). Wi n n i n g

in number 15 were Bart Starr (Packers, I,

II) and Jeff Hostetler (Giants, XXV); in

number 11, Phil Simms (Giants, XXI) and

Mark Rypien (Redskins, XXVI); in num-

ber 8, Troy Aikman (Cowboys, XXVII,

XXVIII, XXX), Steve Young (49ers,

XXIX), and Trent Dilfer (Ravens, XXXV);

in number 4, Brett Favre (Packers, XXXI);

in number 7, John Elway (Broncos,

XXXII, XXXIII) and Joe Theismann

(Redskins, XVII); in number 9, Jim

McMahon (Bears, XX); in number 13,

Kurt Warner (Rams, XXXIV); in number

14, Brad Johnson (Buccaneers, XXXVII);

in number 17, Doug Williams (Redskins,

XXII); and in number 19, Johnny Unitas

(Colts, V). Losing while wearing number 7

have been: Elway (Broncos, XXI, XXII,

XXIV), Craig Morton (Cowboys, V and

Broncos, XII), Ron Jaworski (Eagles, XV),

and Theismann (Redskins, XVIII).

Defense Wins

The Buccaneers became the eighth team

with the top-ranked defense to play in

the Super Bowl [XXXVII] and the

seventh to come out victorious.

Heads or Tails?

Every team that has won the coin toss in

the Super Bowl has elected to receive.

Who Would Come?

Super Bowl weekend is the slowest week-

end for weddings.

—USA Today

TATISTICS

’

• Super Bowl teams with fewer

turnovers than their opponents are

29-2 (.935).

• Super Bowl teams with the time of

possession advantage are 29-10

(.744).

• Super Bowl teams with the most

time-consuming scoring drive during

the game are 30-9 (.769).

Warmest Super Bowls

Super Bowl Date Site Temp

VII Jan. 14, 1973 Los Angeles 84°

XXXVII Jan. 26, 2003 San Diego 81°

XXIII Jan. 22, 1979 Miami 76°

XXIX Jan. 22, 1989 Miami 76°

XXI Jan. 25, 1987 Pasadena 76°

Coolest Outdoor Super Bowls

Super Bowl Date Site Temp

VI Jan. 16, 1972 New Orleans 39°

IX Jan. 12, 1975 New Orleans 46°

VIII Jan. 13, 1974 Houston 50°

XIX Jan. 20, 1985 Stanford 53°

X Jan. 18, 1976 Miami 57°

UMBERS

ELL THE

TORY

Seventy-thousand folks will see

[Super Bowl XXXII] live, 3,000

media are credentialed, and the

list goes on: 17,000 hotel

rooms, 16,000 game-day park-

ing passes, 600 private jets, an

800,000-square-foot hospitality

village, 1,200 pregame-show

dancers, 1,600 halftime per-

formers, a 2,500-member secu-

rity force, five Blue Angels, and

one B-2 bomber.

—USA Today

140

SUPER BOWL MISCELLANY

Super Bowl MVPs by Position

Quarterbacks have won the Super Bowl

Most Valuable Player award more times

than any other position. Twenty quarter-

backs have been named the Super Bowl

MVP, including New England Patriots

quarterback Tom Brady in Super Bowls

XXXVI and XXXVIII.

Super Bowl MVPs by Position

Quarterback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Running Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Wide Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Defensive End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Linebacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Cornerback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Defensive Tackle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Kick Returner-Punt Returner . . . . . . .1

What Do You Do For an Encore?

Five head coaches have guided their

team to the Super Bowl in their first

season with that club. In Super Bowl

XXXVII, both head coaches were in their

first season—Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden

and Oakland’s Bill Callahan.

Don McCafferty, Baltimore, 1970

Red Miller, Denver, 1977

George Seifert, San Francisco, 1989

Jon Gruden, Tampa Bay, 2002

Bill Callahan, Oakland, 2002

Super Bowl Host Cities

New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Miami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Los Angeles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

(LA Coliseum 2, Rose Bowl 5)

San Diego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Tampa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Atlanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Houston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Jacksonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Minneapolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Stanford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Tempe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Future Super Bowl Sites

Super Bowl XLI February 4, 2007

Dolphins Stadium, Miami, FL

Super Bowl XLII February 3, 2008

Cardinals Stadium, Glendale, AZ

Super Bowl XLIII February 1, 2009

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL

There’s No Place Like ‘Home’...Not

The designated “home” team at Super

Bowl has not always found the comfort

expected in friendly surroundings. The

home team has won only 18 times, while

“visitors” have won 21 titles.

No Super Bowl has been played at the

home field of a participant, but two

teams —the 1979 Los Angeles Rams and

the 1984 San Francisco 49ers—did make

it to the NFL title game in their home

area. The Rams lost to the Steelers in

XIV at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The

49ers defeated the Dolphins in XIX at

Stanford Stadium.

It’s a Fact That…

• Long-distance telephone calls decrease

50 percent during a Super Bowl, but

rise at halftime.

• San Francisco police reported arrests

for minor crimes dropped from an

average of 360 daily to 96 on the day of

Super Bowl XVI between the 49ers and

Cincinnati Bengals.

• Dallas water department officials

reported water pressure dipped by five

pounds during television commercials

carried on the telecast of Super Bowl

VI, in which the Cowboys defeated the

Dolphins 24-3.

Put Me in, Coach

What is the best job at the Super Bowl?

Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38.70%

Announcer/Reporter . . . . . . . . .32.98%

Cheerleader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17.25%

Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.37%

Referee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.71%

USA Today Poll, 2002

UPER

OWL

ISCELLANY

The Day After...

“This is the busiest day this airport has

ever had.”

—Houston Police Sgt. S.J. Collns on

Bush International Airport the

day after Super Bowl XXXVIII

Good Grades

A Duxbury, Massachusetts, student

said one of her teachers jokingly offered

her an A+ grade in exchange for her

ticket to the Super Bowl in Houston

[XXXVIII]. Other kids in school asked,

“Can I be in your suitcase?”

—Boston Globe

The U-Haul Hotel?

Sal Mirabella, Jr., a deejay from

Lexington, Massachusetts, booked two

nights at a hotel room in Houston for his

trip to Super Bowl XXXVIII, but spent

the rest of the week in a rented 20-foot

U-Haul with four pals. Not much of a

bachelor pad, he acknowledged, but it

satisfied the budget-minded traveler.

—Boston Globe

Winning’s Contagious

A woman at the Patriots’ victory parade

called in sick a day in advance, saying

she had the “New England flu.”

—New York Times

New Uniforms?

St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Tampa

allowed the students to wear Buccaneers

merchandise to school instead of their

traditional uniforms after the team won

Super Bowl XXXVII.

—Tampa Tribune

Imagine if He Waited 20 Years

Rich Gonzalez, a Raiders fan from

Valinda, California, swapped a 1989

Harley Davidson motorcycle for two

Super Bowl XXXVII tickets. “Hey, this

is the Super Bowl. I’m not going to wait

another 19 years.”

—San Diego Union-Tribune

Looking for Love

A 35-year-old man with two tickets to

Super Bowl XXXVII posted an ad on a

Bay Area website seeking a “gorgeous

young date” to go to the game with him.

Within two hours, the man received

five offers.

—San Francisco Chronicle

Football in Church

Troubled by a 30-50 percent drop in

attendance at the regular Sunday night

service on Super Bowl Sunday, Reverend

R. William Wyand of Broadfording

“I LIKE FOOTBALL AND

GOING TO THIS GAME IS ONE

OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY

YEAR. IT’S IDIOTIC FOR

A GROWN-UP MAN TO SAY

SO, BUT I LOVE IT.”

—Andy Rooney, 60 Minutes

141

SUPER BOWL MISCELLANY

Brethren Bible Church replaced his

pulpit with a big-screen TV and invited

folks to watch the Super Bowl from the

padded pews. The result? Attendance

was back to normal.

—San Diego Union-Tribune

New England Digs

The New England Patriots became the

first team in NFL history to win the

Super Bowl and open a new stadium

(Gillette Stadium) the following season.

Is That Seat Being Used?

At the premiere of the New England

Patriots Super Bowl XXXVI Champions

video, so many people packed the movie

theater in Boston Common, Patriots Pro

Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy was forced to

sit in the aisle.

—Boston Globe

Bill Belichick was the Godfather

At St. Mary of the Assumption Church

in Brookline, Massachusetts, a baptism

originally scheduled for Super Bowl

Sunday was moved to another date when

the Patriots made the big game.

—Boston Globe

Get There Early

Fans started lining up at City Hall at

2 a.m. the night before the Patriots’

Super Bowl parade.

—Boston Globe

No Room at the Inn

Green Bay hotels reported no vacancies

the night of Super Bowl XXXI. “That

shocked everybody in the lodging indus-

try, including us,” said Mark Kanz of the

Green Bay Area Visitor and Convention

Bureau. “But if you stop and think about

it, anybody who couldn’t be in New

Orleans figured Green Bay was the next-

best place to be.”

—Bay Business Journal

Keep The Change?

J. Snyder of Bloomington, Illinois, ate a

$100 bill as part of a promotion to win a

free ticket to Super Bowl XXXIV.

Police Chase

Music City 103.3 FM of Nashville told

listeners that one of the city’s uniformed

police officers was carrying two free

Super Bowl XXXIV tickets. The station

quickly canceled the promotion when

residents began speeding after police

cruisers and running through traffic to

ask officers for the tickets.

—USA Today

Tie a Yellow Ribbon

Super Bowl XV at New Orleans was played

five days after the release of American

hostages from Iran. The Louisiana

Superdome was wrapped with a huge yel-

low ribbon on the day of the game, January

25, 1981, and Raiders and Eagles players

had yellow tape on their helmets.

Immediate Successes

Two rookie head coaches, Don McCafferty

and George Seifert, have led their teams to

Super Bowl victories.

McCafferty directed the Baltimore Colts

to a 16-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys in

Super Bowl V that was decided by Jim

O’ B r i e n’s 32-yard field goal with five sec-

onds remaining. Seifert, in contrast, rode

the crest of a record-setting 55-10 victory

by the San Francisco 49ers over the Denver

Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV.

Delivery Problem Solved

In 1977, Georgetown University Hospital

in Washington, D.C., installed television

sets in the labor room of its maternity

ILLION

-P

ATRIOT

ARCH

Despite 25-degree temperatures,

a crowd of 1,250,000, twice the

population of Boston, packed into

downtown Boston to celebrate the

Patriots’ [XXXVI] victory.

—Boston Herald

BELLMAN BILL

When 49ers players arrived at

their Detroit hotel six days

before Super Bowl XVI, they

were greeted by an overzealous

bellman who began grabbing

their luggage. Many ignored

his efforts, virtually shoving

him aside. It was several min-

utes before one of them

recognized the fellow in the

hotel uniform as their head

coach, Bill Walsh, who

said, “You’ve got to have

some fun sometimes.”

UPER

OWL

ORLD

Frank Nitikman, a 61-year-old

lawyer from Chicago, turned

down an 18-day, all-expenses-

paid around-the-world trip for

two, estimated at $18,000,

in favor of two tickets to Super

Bowl XXXVI. “To pass up the

opportunity to go and take

someone else—how could I

do that?” Nitikman said.

department to accommodate expectant

fathers. The reason: Encourage husbands

to get their laboring wives to the hospital

on time for delivery and not wait for the

completion of the Super Bowl.

Heaven Sent

John O’Neill, a corrections officer from

Madison [Wisconsin], might have

been the most photographed object

outside the Dome, not counting the

Dome itself. O’Neill was dressed in

green-and-gold papal raiments—

complete with a staff topped with a

wedge of cheese and a miter on which

he had written, “St. Vince.”

—Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Super Bowl XXXI, 1997

Secret Pal

Lea Tibbits, an 81-year-old Slidell

[Louisiana] grandmother, said she

almost passed out when she received two

Super Bowl tickets in the mail. There

was no note and Tibbits said she’s not

sure who sent them, but she guesses it

was one of two professional football

players she met while traveling recently

in Europe. And she’s not going to work

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

“The Super Bowl started

as a game, then it became

a day, now it’s a week.”

—Ed Goren, executive

producer, FOX Sports

142

SUPER BOWL MISCELLANY

too hard to find the anonymous donor.

“I don’t want them to change their

mind,” said Tibbits, who has never been

to the Super Bowl. “I’ve got these tickets

and I’m really going.”

—New Orleans Times-Picayune

Pass the Salsa

To honor the Broncos in Super Bowl

XXXIII, Leopoldo’s Tortillas of Fort

Collins, Colorado, produced blue-and-

orange tortillas for the second straight

year. “My family is really intense about

the Broncos,” said owner Christi

Godinez-Gabaldon. They sold more than

2,000 bags of chips the week before the

Broncos appeared in Super Bowl XXXII.

—Denver Post

Long Way From Home

At 4 a.m. on January 30, 1995, in Tengiz,

West Kazakstan, a group of expatriate

Americans gathered in hopeful

anticipation. It had been an uncertain

wait for this special event, but they had

high expectations. And then it happened.

The television screen lit up, and the live

transmission of Super Bowl XXIX began.

The population of about 3,000

Americans—employees of Chevron

and their families—were delighted to

receive the transmission of the Super

Bowl for the second year in a row.

Tenghizchevroll, as this Chevron division

is known, is stationed at the Tenghiz oil

field on the Caspian Sea. Their ability to

share in this premium American sporting

event meant a lot, especially to the home-

sick football fans.

—The Intelsat Broadcaster

800 Miles in 44 Minutes

How do you win 84 Emmys for

excellence in film and video making?

You don’t cut corners, that’s for sure!

Just ask NFL Films.

In 2000, for its annual production,

The Road to the Super Bowl, which

requires coverage throughout an entire

regular season, NFL Films shot 800

miles of film. That was pared down so

that the final product of The Road to

the Super Bowl ran 44 minutes.

If all 800 miles of film were run

continuously through a single projector,

it would consume 50 days and nights.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Football

Hundreds of football fans came to

GraceWay church in downtown Augusta,

Georgia, to watch Super Bowl XXIX on a

widescreen TV placed at the altar.

During breaks, the congregation watched

Christian music videos, and heard music

by GraceWay singers and testimonies by

audience members. “Where else could

these people be—a bar?” asked the

Reverend Gene Swinson.

You Found Those Tickets Where?

“Super Bowl tickets are a valuable

commodity. I understand that...But what

I’m having a hard time getting my head

around is the fact that I just watched a

grown man stick his face—heck, his

whole body—into 2,000 pounds of

manure packed into the back of a

pickup truck for tickets.”

—Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Who Was He Rooting For?

One of the guests at Super Bowl XXX

was Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. His

entourage required extra security and

something else: The prince required a

praying room at the stadium. Officials

quickly opened a stadium office. No one

thought to ask, however, what team he

was praying for.

—Arizona Republic

Miracles Do Happen

Super Bowl talk was everywhere Sunday,

even at morning Mass at St. Louis

Cathedral. The Rev. Frank Montalbano

ended the 10 a.m. Mass by noting that

New Orleans has not yet sent a team to

the big game and asking worshippers to

remember the Saints in their prayers.

—USA Today

We Hope She Didn’t Wait 29 Years

At Super Bowl XXXI in 1997, the Green Bay Packers won their first Super Bowl

ring in 29 years. And Lori Lewis got one, too.

“My fiancé, Bruce Atkinson, dropped to his knee in the stands and proposed,”

she said. “He said, ‘I said I’d marry you if the Packers got to the Super Bowl. Will

you be my wife?’

“My family and neighbors decorated our house with banners saying, ‘Return to

Glory! Bruce proposed to Lori!’” Lewis said. “They sent us bouquets of green and

gold carnations arranged with Super Bowl balloons.”

—Associated Press

Lost and Found

When John Madden was coaching the

Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI at the

Rose Bowl, he was so wound up on game

day he forgot something: a half-dozen of

his players.

“I’d changed the itinerary, the time we

were supposed to leave, and I just told

the buses to leave,” Madden said. “I got

so excited, I just got on the bus and said,

‘Take off.’ We got to the stadium, and I

couldn’t find the players. They were

afraid because they thought they were

late and missed the bus. But I knew I lost

them. As a head coach, you can’t go

around and say, ‘Hey, I lost six players!’

One of them was John Matuszak, and he

was like 6-8, 310 pounds. How the hell

do you lose him? You can’t admit it if

you’re the head coach. But here I am

playing hide-and-go-seek before the

damn Super Bowl.”

—New Orleans Times-Picayune

When Secretary of State James Baker

went to Moscow on a stopover before

continuing on to Israel for a round of

Middle East peace talks in January

1992, he carried, in addition to

important documents, another packet

desired by U.S. Embassy staff mem-

bers: Super Bowl XXVI videotapes.

Unlike many European countries,

Russia did not rebroadcast the game,

causing consternation among the

small band of Redskins fans at the

Embassy. Hopes rose that neighbor-

ing Finland would carry the game—

prompting some Americans to make

plane and hotel reservations—but the

Finns did not.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Strauss

then contacted Secretary Baker and

requested the tapes. Baker was

pleased to oblige. In fact, he delayed

his departure for Israel to watch the

tape along with the staff at the

embassy on Tuesday night following

Super Bowl XXVI.

Mission to Moscow