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Fanalytics Podcast Episode 27: Super Bowl History

Super Bowl LIII is right around the corner! With the big game being less than three weeks away, Mike and I wanted to talk about the history of the Super Bowl on this episode of the Fanalytics podcast. Talking about all 50+ Super Bowls would be a bit excessive so we picked the ones we felt were the most significant. Our goal was to see how much the Super Bowl has evolved and how it got to become the big sporting event it is today. Hope you enjoy!

Here’s some notes about the games we talked about.


1967 (AFL/NFL championship game):

  • The NFL champion Green Bay Packers defeated the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs by 35–10

  • 51 million viewers – CBS and NBC two networks because it was the AFL/NFL championship game

  • Ticket pricing: $10 ($74.98 in 2018)

  • The halftime program was University of Arizona and Grambling State marching bands


1969 (Super Bowl 3):

  • First Super Bowl to be called by a number (Super Bowl III)

  • This championship proved the AFL was on par with the NFL for the very first time

  • New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath promised his team a victory – a guarantee that was obviously out of place, as the Colts were favored to win by as much as a 20-point margin

  • The Colts were unable to keep the game within one score, and the Jets took the title, 16-7

  • Ticket price: $12 ($83.15 in 2018)


1973 (Super Bowl 7):

  • Miami 14 – 7 Redskins

  • Miami was undefeated

  • Super Bowl ads did not become ‘famous’ until 1973 when Noxzema ran a commercial for their shaving cream featuring Joe Namath

  • Ticket price: $16 ($86.86 in 2018)

  • Halftime show: “Happiness Is.” with University of Michigan marching band and Woody Herman


1976 (Super Bowl 10):

  • Pittsburgh defeats Dallas 21-17

  • 1976 Up with People performs in Super Bowl X in Miami, FL for a live audience of 80,100 and 57.7 million TV viewers

  • Ticket price: $20 ($88.73 in 2018)


1984 (Super Bowl 18):

  • Raiders 38-9 Redskins

  • Apple MAC ad is a big deal

  • Halftime show: “Super Bowl XVIII’s Salute to the Superstars of the Silver Screen”

  • Ticket price: $60 ($145.24 in 2018)


1985 (Super Bowl 19):

  • Bears Super Bowl shuffle

  • Halftime show:”A World of Children’s Dreams”

  • Highlighted some trends in terms of the super bowl creating celebrities

  • Ticket price: $60 ($140 in 2018)


1991 (Super Bowl 25):

  • This Championship game had a lot of patriotic pride, as the U.S. was in the middle of the first Gulf War

  • The New York Giants were on their way to winning two Super Bowls in 5 years as they played the Buffalo Bills

  • New York had possession of the ball for a record 40 minutes and 33 seconds, with their longest drive clocking it at 9:29 in the third quarter before scoring on a one-yard run by running back Ottis Anderson

  • The Bills had one final chance to win the game on a field goal with seconds remaining, but the 47-yard attempt by Scott Norwood sailed wide, and the Giants sealed the victory, 20-19

  • Ticket price: $150 ($274.89 in 2018)

  • Halftime show: “A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl” featuring New Kids on the Block


1999 (Super Bowl 33):

  • Denver beat Atlanta

  • 34-19WASSUP Ad


2002 (Super Bowl 36):

  • With the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 earlier in the season, it should only seem fitting that the New England Patriots would be competing in Super Bowl XXXVI. Though labeled as the underdogs

  • New England jumped to a 17-3 lead over the St. Louis Rams by the end of the second quarter. The game switched gears in the second half, as the Rams made up the points necessary to put the game at a 17-17 tie

  • On the final play of the game, Adam Vinatieri made a 48-yard field goal to give the Patriots the championship, 20-17. This game marked the first time a Super Bowl was decided on the points from the final play of the game

  • Ticket price: $400 ($554.94 in 2018)

  • Halftime show: U2


2004 (Super Bowl 38):

  • Super Bowl XXXVIII turned into a shootout in the fourth quarter, as the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers combined for a record 37 points in that period

  • When it was over, the New England Patriots came on top, 32-29, to win their second Super Bowl

  • The game was also noteworthy for its halftime show and the famous “wardrobe malfunction” when Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed by Justin Timberlake

  • Ticket price: $400 ($529.90 in 2018)


2015 (Super Bowl 49):

  • The hype leading up to Super bowl XLIX was some of the biggest of any game in the decade before it

  • The defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks and their Legion of Boom on defense would take on one of the greatest post season quarterbacks of all time in Tom BradyBrady and the Patriots had lost their two previous Super Bowl appearances and were looking for redemption

  • A back and forth game saw the Patriots take the lead with just over 2 minutes remaining in the game. But Russell Wilson and company drove the ball the length of the field and had a 2nd and goal situation with 26 seconds remaining. The game looked all but won for the Seahawks, when Malcolm Butler stepped in front of a slant route, to intercept Wilson, and seal the Patriots 4th Super Bowl win

  • Ticket price: $1,750 ($1,839.07 in 2018)

  • Halftime show: Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott


2017 (Super Bowl 51):

  • Patriots 34, Falcons 28

  • It was the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history — the Patriots once trailed by 25 — led by Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in NFL history, who threw for 466 yards. It gave Bill Belichick and Brady their fifth championship in seven trips, and it cemented the Patriots as one of the league’s top dynasties

  • Ticket price: $1,700 ($1,721.40 in 2018)

  • Halftime show: Lady Gaga


Sources:


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