Superbowl 50 came to a end with Denver Broncos emerging victorious against the Carolina Panthers by a scoreline of 24-10. Despite having a 5 point lead at one stage of the game, the Panthers fell away handing Broncos their 3rd Super Bowl title. Having started the season as favorites to win Superbowl LI, Panthers has struggled in what has been a below par season so far not only for the Panthers but for the league as a whole.

Apart from the New England Patriots there hasn’t been a stand out team in the NFL his season. Dallas Cowboys & Atlanta Falcons have also had decent starts to the campaign while Carolina Panthers find themselves bottom of the NFC South Division after 7 games. In this article we’ll be taking a look at all the relevant information with regard to the comping Superbowl LI.

When & Where is the Superbowl 2017 taking place?

The 2017 edition of the Super Bowl will be taking place at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.  Superbowl 51 will mark the third time that the event will be hosted in Houston. NRG Stadium has played host to the Super Bowl once before in 2004. Super Bowl XXXVIII was hosted at the NRG Stadium in 2004 when it was still called the Reliant Stadium, the Super Bowl title was won by the New England Patriots beating Carolina Panthers 32-29. The first time Houston played host to the Super Bowl was in 1974, Rice Stadium was the venue as Miami Dolphins won Super Bowl VIII beating Minnesota Vikings, 24-7.

NRG Stadium was chosen as the venue for Super Bowl LI back in May 2013[1]. The multi-purpose stadium has a seating capacity of 72,000 & is the home stadium of AFC South Division side, Houston Texans. Texans have never appeared in the Superbowl but has started the 2016 season well. Fox Network has received the rights to broadcast the event across the US, if you are wanting to watch the extravaganza from outside the US, then you stream the game live via the official NFL Mobile App.

Date: 05-02-2017

Time: 6.30 PM ET

Why is the Superbowl so Popular?

The rise in popularity of the Superbowl ever since it’s inception in 1967 has been nothing but astonishing. An annual event which pits the champions of the AFC & NFC each other, has been nothing but an unofficial national holiday in the States. One of the reasons as to why a “single game” gathers so much attention is because it is only a “single game”. Unlike the NBA or MLB were the eventual champions are decided by a 7 game series, the Superbowl is a one-off game that decides the Champions.

Superbowl 50 amazed an average of 111.8 million viewers, thereby earning it’s spot as the third most watched event in TV history. The top two most watched events in TV history are also Superbowls, namely Superbowl 48 with 112.2 million average viewers & Superbowl 49 with 114.4 million average viewers. In addition to the game, the Half-time shows & commercials also bring in their fair share of audience. The Superbowl half-time shows has seen superstars such as Micheal Jackson, Rolling Stone, Katy Petty & Prince performing in front of millions for a short span of 12-13 minutes.

Commercials which air during the Superbowl are some of the most ingenious advertisements. The Superbowl platform helps the products in reaching millions of households with a single slot. Selling the advertisement slots brings in a lot of money to the league, with most parties willing to pay in excess of 5$ million for a single 30 second slot. A number of other factors also attracts audiences to the mega-event which includes pre-game parties, betting -both legal & illegal with the latter taking up for 80% of the market share[2].

Superbowl 2017 Half-Time Show

Lady Gaga will be the star attraction during Superbowl LI’s half-time show, the pop diva had featured in Superbowl 50 singing the US National Anthem. The 30 year old whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angeline Germanotta, rose to fame in 2008 with her debut album “The Fame”. Over the last decade Gaga has become one of the popular musicians across the globe. Gaga has an impressive list of accolades to her credit which includes 6 Grammy’s & 3 Brits to several others.

Gaga’s involvement in Superbowl LI was confirmed by herself through twitter – “It’s not an Illusion, the rumors are true,””This year the Superbowl is going GAGA!”. Much is expected of GAGA and whether she will be able to rise to the level of some of the greats who have performed at the event, has to be seen.

A Short History Lesson on the Superbowl

The Superbowl as already mentioned pits the winners of the AFC against the winners of the NFC. Superbowl was first played in 1967 after the merger between AFL & NFL in 1966. Both the AFC & NFC has 16 teams each in their league,at the end of the regular season, the top 6 from each conference moves to the post-season also known as playoffs. The conference leaders at the end of the regular season gets a bye from the Wildcard round & goes onto face the winners of the Wildcard round for a spot in the conference finals. Winners of the conference finals moves onto the Superbowl.

A total of 4 teams are tied for the most number of appearances in the Superbowl namely, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots & Denver Broncos. Pittsburgh has won the most Superbowl titles with 6, last of which came in 2008. Dallas Cowboys have won 5 Superbowl titles till date while the Patriots & Broncos have 4 & 3 Superbowls respectively. The best win/loss in Superbowl goes to the San Francisco 49ers who have won 5 and lost just once, one teams who have featured in 5 or more Superbowls were considered.

Why is Superbowl called so?

The first three Superbowl’s were in fact not known by their current name, some of the initial titles given to the game included – NFL-AFL Championship, World Championship & the World Series of Football. The origin of the word Superbowl[2] interestingly dates back to 1966. In a letter by the founder of the AFL, Lamar Hunt to the Commissioner of the NFL, Pete Rozelle, the former suggest the name “Superbowl” inspired by a popular kids toy at the time “Super Ball”.

How to Get Your Tickets for Superbowl 2017

The tickets to the Superbowl are distributed by the NFL to the teams, media, sponsors etc. Teams receive around 75% of the share which are then distributed between the players & season ticket holders. Unlike other sporting events you cannot get you’re ticket for the big game at the venue or via online. Grabbing a NFL ticket at face value as an outsider is a torturous process which starts with send a letter to the NFL, 9 to 12 months prior to the event. If you are a season ticket holder for any of the clubs you’re chances are better than the general public. In case you are a season ticket holder for one of the finalists then you are almost there.

As for Superbowl LI, the only option as of now is to get the tickets from second-hand sellers. Selling second-hand tickets, also known as scalping is illegal in some part of the country, so you should try not to get yourself arrested. The prices of the Superbowl tickets you can find online are almost double or triple the face value. Face Value of a NFL ticket is around 3000$ so try to get you’re ticket close to his price. Some of the hotels in the host city do provide the tickets for the events as a package which includes access to pre-game parties among tons of other stuff.

How Much Revenue does Superbowl Generate

The total customer revenue that Superbowl 50 mounts to a whopping 15.5$ billion, the figure has almost doubled over the last 10 years. It is estimated that an American household on an average spends around 100$ dollars on the Superbowl. Other streams through which NFL creates revenue solely on the Superbowl includes Broadcasting rights, Licensing revenue, half-time sponsorship right & game tickets.

Advertisement & Sponsorship deals are without doubt the biggest income for the league. In 2002, the cost of a 30 advertisement slot stood at 2$ million, fast forward to 2016, the figure has almost tripled to 5.3$ million for a 30 second ad. Some of the advertisers during last season’s Superbowl included Pokemon, T-Mobile, Budweiser & Doritos. Pepsi have been sponsors of the half-time show for the last 4 years, they will be continuing on the tradition on 2017.

In addition to the revenue generated by the NFL, the host city also generates a good amount of revenue. The economic impact last season’s Superbowl had on the city exceeded 800$ million.

What do the players receive for winning the Superbowl

The players of the Superbowl winning outfit receives bonuses from the league for their triumph. Last season, the players of Denver Broncos received 102,000$ each as bonus, while the players of Carolina Panthers received 51,000$ as bonus for their losing effort. The bonuses are given out to not only the players who took part in the final but the entire 53 man roster receives the payment. In addition to the cash bonus, all 53 members of the winning team receives the prestigious Superbowl Ring.

Every team that qualifies for the NFL post season receives these players bonuses for every round they appear in. The players involved in the teams playing in the Wildcard round receives 23,000$. Teams involved in the divisional round receives 25,000$ while the conference champions receives 46,000$ for their efforts. Each and every players irrespective of whether they played a second or not, will receive these bonuses. The total amount that a player can receive as bonus for his journey with the team, from the wildcard round to the Superbowl title mounts to 198,000$.

The 198,000$ isn’t a huge amount when amount with players who receive 10$ million or more as salaries, however for the fringes players who are trying to breakthrough, the amount will be a very decent boost. As for the bigger players in the league it is the endorsement deals that they are offered after the winning the Superbowl, that makes their effort worth it.

The trophy awarded to the Superbowl winning team is called the Vince Lombardi trophy[3]. It is named after Vince Lombardi, a decorated coach who had led the Green Bay Packers to 3 NFL Championships in early 60’s & also led helped secure the first two Superbowl titles. The NFL trophy is named in his honor since 1970, after he died from cancer.

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Betting on the Superbowl

When it comes to betting on the Superbowl you can literally wager on anything that happens during the event. From the length of the national anthem to the first touchdown of the game, almost any type of wagers can be made during the show. Prop Bets i.e; bets which are not related to events which influence the final outcome of the game, are some of the most popular forms bets during the Superbowl.

Traditional bets such as Point Spread & Money line betting are still popular and you can make them with any of the bookies we have listed above. If you join them via us you’ll be also receiving a handy welcome bonus exclusive only with us.

In addition to betting online, Vegas has become a popular destination to bet on the Superbowl. Since taking up Superbowl betting in 1991, the Vegas has made profit in all but two Superbowls which are Superbowl 2008, won by New York Giants & Superbowl 1995, won by San Francisco 49ers. The odds on Denver Broncos winning the Superbowl title at the start of last season stood at 10.00, the odds for Carolina Panthers to do the same stood at 61.00. The Panthers despite the poor odds had a great season reaching the finals. As in any other sports, the key to be a good bettor on the NFL & Superbowl is to do your research before making a bet.

External Resources

[1] Houstontexans.com, NRG Stadium awarded Superbowl LI hosting rights

[2] time.com, Why is the Superbowl called so

[3] topendsports.com, History of Vince Lombardi trophy