Super Bowl

Super Bowl, in U.S. professional football, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), played by the winners of the league’s American Football Conference and National Football Conference each January or February. The game is hosted by a different city each year.

(Read Walter Camp’s 1903 Britannica essay on inventing American football.)

The game grew out of the merger of the NFL and rival American Football League (AFL) in 1966. The agreement called for an end-of-season championship game, and, although the merger was not finalized until 1970, the first such game, then called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967. Broadcast on two television networks and played before less than a sellout crowd, the game saw the NFL’s Green Bay Packers defeat the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, 35–10. The name “Super Bowl” first appeared in 1969, as did the use of Roman numerals, which, because the game is played in a different year from the season it culminates, are used to designate the individual games.

The day of the Super Bowl game, known as Super Bowl Sunday, has evolved into an unofficial American holiday, with viewing parties held in homes, taverns, and restaurants throughout the country. The week prior to the game is highlighted by extensive media buildup and a festival atmosphere in the host city. The game itself is accompanied by elaborate pregame and halftime ceremonies and entertainment.

All Super Bowls since the first have been sellouts and consistent TV-ratings leaders, with many Super Bowls among the highest-rated televised sporting events of all time. As a result, commercial time during the game is the most expensive of the year; for example, in 2016 a 30-second spot cost approximately $4.8 million. The high-profile advertisements have featured celebrities and noted filmmakers as well as new technologies in hopes of making an impression on the huge Super Bowl audience. Since the 1980s, media scrutiny of and public interest in Super Bowl commercials have nearly matched that accorded the game itself.

The table provides a list of Super Bowl results.