Super Bowl Fun Facts
The NFL’s grandest stage will open to a worldwide audience of some 100 million on February 2nd where Fox will beam live to rabid and casual football fans alike. And now that betting on sports is tiptoeing out of the shadows and into the mainstream, it’s only fair we take a look at the big game in order to break it down and make some money while we party like rock stars!
After perusing an Intertops review, which details one of the best online sportsbooks in the world, we see that the oddsmakers at that long-established site have installed the Chiefs as 1 ½ point favorites over the 49ers with a total of 54 on the big game. Before we make a prediction, let’s get to know a few interesting tidbits about America’s biggest game of the year.
Super Bowl 54
Teams: Kansas City Chiefs (-1 ½) vs San Francisco 49ers
Date: Sunday, February 2, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox
Location: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
- The AFL and NFL had been competing for players and fanbases but once the leagues decided to merge, the first “Super Bowl” between the two former rivals took place on January 15, 1967, between the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, and was officially called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Green Bay would eventually win that game by the score of 35-10 but it was Kansas City’s owner, Lamar Hunt, who felt the name lacked pizazz and coined it the Super Bowl after referencing one of his children’s toys, the Super Ball. The league bristled at the moniker, believing it was too juvenile and lacked prestige. However, the name caught on and it was officially adopted in Super Bowl IV.
- The first Super Bowl is, to this day, the only Super Bowl that failed to sell out. Tickets averaged only $12 but the LA Coliseum was still far from packed. Fast forward to Super Bowl XIV and ducats for the nosebleed seats fetch $2500-$3000 and higher on the open market.
- The Chiefs and 49ers have never met in a Super Bowl and it has been 50 years since Kansas City made it to the big game while San Francisco’s last appearance occurred in February of 2013 where they fell to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31. If San Francisco defeats Kansas City, the 49ers will tie Pittsburgh and New England for the most Super Bowl victories with six.
- San Francisco is only the third team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl after winning four or fewer games the season before. Last season, the 49ers ended the season with a 4-12 mark.
- Switching to food, if you’re wondering what to serve then consider chicken wings. According to the National Chicken Council, Americans will consume over 1.3 billion wings on Super Bowl Sunday.
- Trailing only Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest food consumption day.
- The 22-inch, seven-pound Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy has been produced by Tiffany & Co. has been produced since the first Super Bowl in 1967 and was reportedly sketched on a napkin by Tiffany’s executive in a meeting with then-commissioner Pete Rozelle.
- The cost of a 30-second commercial in Super Bowl 1 was $37,500 but that same half-minute ad on this year’s Super Bowl will run $5.6 million.
- Performers at the Super Bowl get all of their expenses paid, and those of their entourage, but do not get an appearance fee.
- People like to bet the Super Bowl and in last year’s Super Bowl, Nevada sportsbooks reported $159 million in wagers while the total amount of illegal bets is estimated at over $4.6 billion.
Why the Chiefs Will Win Super Bowl 54
Although San Francisco boasts a tenacious defense, the Kansas City offense has more weapons than a Swiss Army knife and it all starts with Patrick Mahomes, the favorite to win the MVP Trophy this year and front-runner to take home the Super Bowl MVP hardware as well. This is the proverbial irresistible force versus the immovable object but what many people are underestimating is a vastly improved Chiefs’ defense that could very likely prove to be the tipping point in this year’s battle for the Lombardi Trophy.
Prediction: Chiefs 34 – 49ers 24