The annual Super Bowl in the United States is happening this weekend. In case you're not familiar, the Super Bowl is a championship game in American football held in late January or early February, always on a Sunday. The game brings together two of the best teams of the season to decide the best American football team in the United States. The 2024 Super Bowl is happening this Sunday on February 8th, 2024. It's only fitting to discuss the impact of the Super Bowl and how it has shaped the game, which is now in its 54th year. We'll see two NFL teams, each with its own legacy to uphold.
The first-ever Super Bowl happened on January 15th, 1967. What's interesting is that, according to History.com, the first-ever Super Bowl took place 40 years after the National Football League (NFL) was created. The Super Bowl was first played after a group of businessmen, who wanted to own football franchises but were denied by the NFL, launched an alternative league known as the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. The game started after the AFL and the NFL decided to merge their football leagues following years of competing for fans and viewers.
The first Super Bowl was played by the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers. This leads to an interesting fact about the 57th Super Bowl and the very first Super Bowl. It just so happens that the Kansas City Chiefs have also played in and won the 57th Super Bowl. Kansas City has had a fantastic season with their head coach, Andy Reid, and their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Thanks to the talent on the team, the game records are eleven wins and six losses. With such a strong winning streak, the team will prove difficult to beat on Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs played in the very first Super Bowl and they played the best of their football league (AFL) in the 2024 season. This will be the second time in a row for Kansas City in the Super Bowl after winning in 2023. Cody Benjamin for CBS Sports said, “This is the Chiefs' fourth Super Bowl appearance in five seasons. They are the third team in NFL history to enjoy such a stretch, after the 2014-18 New England Patriots and 1990-93 Buffalo Bills” (Benjamin). For perspective, The New England Patriots in 2014 – 2018 went on a winning streak for two years and impressive seasons in 2014 through 2018. It also doesn’t hurt that the statistics website, Statmuse, shows Patrick Mahomes leading the NFL’s record for touchdown passes.
Their opponents, the San Francisco 49ers, have their own impressive story. Their quarterback, Brock Purdy, is only in his second season and is already going to the Super Bowl. ESPN.com, a sports entertainment website, said about Brock Purdy, “he joins Dan Marino (1984), Warner (1999), Brady (2001), Ben Roethlisberger (2005), Colin Kaepernick (2012), Russell Wilson (2013) and Joe Burrow (2021)” (ESPN). According to ESPN, Brock Purdy would be in good company with other legendary quarterbacks in the recent history of the NFL. Regardless of whether Purdy wins, he is already seen as an impressive player for making it to the Super Bowl in only his second season.
This is not to say that the 49ers are not an impressive team on their own. One benefit is an extra win this season compared to Kansas City. San Francisco’s game record is twelve wins and five losses. San Francisco is also being called the home team for the game. While the team does show a lower winning record at home according to the official San Francisco 49ers website, it doesn’t show a big difference from their record for visiting games. Either way, the team has shown itself to be surprisingly good this season and shows a lot of promise ahead of the game.
To see San Francisco win the Super Bowl would put Brock Purdy in a group with the other legendary players that were listed. For the team, winning would mean having the 49ers as a team with some of the most Super Bowl wins in its history. To see Kansas City win would be seeing a team tie for the longest winning streak with the New England Patriots. In short, there is no way that Super Bowl 58 will not be history-making. Both teams with young, promising teams that have a past with the championship and will no doubt have a future. Thankfully, there will not only be one winner during the Super Bowl this year.
Both teams have a lot at stake to win this game. Not only are we seeing two of the youngest quarterbacks in the NFL competing this year, but both teams would set records by winning. Both teams also have records involving their teams at stake during the game. Although it seems like the biggest winner will be the host city, Las Vegas. The hosting city changes every year, and it comes with its own benefits. Not only does the host city get a rise in local tourism, but sales for local hotels and merchandise bring in a lot of money. The money earned by the host city brings a big boost to the local economy of the city.
Lastly, the ticket prices are higher than they have ever been this year. Charles Robinson for Yahoo! Sports said, “As of Tuesday evening, the get-in price for Sunday’s game was hovering around $7,790. That’s the highest price ever recorded five days before kickoff” (Robinson). For a better idea, the seats at the stadium were going for around $9,000 at the lowest. The price just goes to show how many people want to see this game being played.
In conclusion, this year’s Super Bowl will have a lot of reasons to watch. From the historic ticket prices to the two impressive teams. The game already has a win for both the city hosting the game and for the winning team. With heightened recognition and tourism for the big game, the host city already wins. Both quarterbacks have the potential to be the best in their league with a lot to prove with this game. With a performance during halftime by Usher, the game is poised to have some of the highest views in NFL history.
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