History on the Super Bowl

Prior to the merger, NFL and AFL leagues were two bitter rivals. There was a need to unit all fans and club sides from both leagues, hence the landmark agreement that cemented and brought about the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Sunday is that day of the year in which winners from both leagues (NFL and AFL) come together to determine who is the champion of the world. The winning team gets the Vince Lombardi Trophy --posthumously named after the coach of the Green Bay Packers that won the first two Super Bowl games. Vinci Lombardi died in September 1970.

The game, which is usually played once in a year has witnessed many date shifts; from first to mid Sunday in of the month of January, it later settled on the second Sunday and from which point it went off again to the third unto the last and later revised back to the first Sunday in the month of February.  Let us hope there is no further shift in date!!

Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt coined the name ''Super Bowl''. He got the idea from the toy Super Ball after watching his children playing with it. There were other suggestions like ''The Big one’’ and whatnot. The name Super Bowl was initially supposed to be a temporary name for the championship game.  The name Super Bowl has gained so much popularity in such a way that, it is now the official name of America’s de facto holiday.

NFL’s Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowl matches. The first and second Super Bowl Championship Games were not advantage with roman numerals until the third Super Bowl championship game(Super Bowl III), talking of which was won  by AFL's New York Jets. Kansas City Chiefs subsequently won Super Bowl IV in New Orleans.

In the United States alone, the Super Bowl is the most-watch TV broadcast. The game has the highest rating in terms of viewership: watched by an average of 90 million Americans. The game has also recorded viewership as high as 200 million and above. Outside the United States about 140 million viewers tune up to watch the championship every super bowl Sunday.

Super Bowl Sunday halftime show has grown from mere matching parades by High School bands to a super show that commands the respect of the global entertainment industry. Thought the halftime show is only 30 minutes, it is no doubt, one of the important highlights of the championship game.  Various America and international top musicians have performed in halftime shows.

The Super Bowl is without any forms of controversies. A case in point was Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, when Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s right breast for the entire world to see in what appeared to be a mistake. Her nipple had a star-shaped ring around it. The incident prompted organizers to place a ban on MTV that forbids the media company from involving in another halftime show, in any capacity, in the future.