February 5th: Superbowl Sunday

It's Superbowl 2017, probably the biggest date in the US sporting calendar. Here are ten things you need to know about Superbowl.

1. The first Super Bowl was held on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Green Bay Packers defeated Kansas City 35-10. However, no footage of this historic game exists - it was reportedly taped over with a soap opera.
2. It wasn't until two years later that the name "Superbowl" was used for the championship game. This game was between the New York Jets and the Baltimore Colts, and the Jets won 16-7.
3. It was this year, too, that the tradition of using Roman numerals to designate Superbowl games was first used. Roman numerals are used rather than the year because the football season spans two years. For the fiftieth game, the Roman numerals were temporarily abandoned and it was called Superbowl 50 - but just for this game. Roman numerals return for Superbowl LI.
4. The Superbowl is the most watched programme on American TV. In fact, the game in 2011 was watched by 111 million people, making it the most watched programme ever in the US, smashing the record previously held for 20 years by the final episode of M*A*S*H. It's customary for people to get together to watch it with an average number of 17 people at a Superbowl party. Only 5% of people watching watch alone. If you think American football is a man's game, you may be surprised to learn that about 46.8% of the viewers are women.
5. Huge viewing figures in the capitalist world means one thing - adverts. An advertising slot during the Superbowl will set a company back as much as $5 million for 30 seconds. A total $4.5 billion has been spent on advertising in the first 50 years of the Super Bowl, according to Ad Age. On the plus side, advertisers do make an effort for the Superbowl and try to outdo each other to produce the best and most popular ads. So much so that one in twelve people watching are more interested in the ads than the football. Two of the most popular ever were a Star Wars themed ad by Volkswagen in 2011 and a Coca Cola ad in 1980.
6. Another big thing on this day is food. The only day Americans will eat more than on Superbowl Sunday is Thanksgiving. It's estimated that on this day, Americans will munch through 11.2 million pounds of potato chips, 4,000 tons of Popcorn, 8 million pounds of guacamole, 5,000 pounds of hotdogs, 1.25 billion chicken wings and more than 9 million slices of pizza. On top of all that, they'll drink 325.5 gallons of Beer.
7. The Pittsburgh Steelers have won the most Super Bowls (6). The Denver Broncos have lost the most Super Bowls (5). The Miami Dolphins hold the record for the fewest points scored in a Super Bowl game (3) and the San Francisco 49ers hold the record for most points (55). No Super Bowl game has ever gone into extra time, and it's often very close with the winner only being decided towards the end of the match.
8. The trophy is called the Lombardi Trophy. It is 21" high and weighs 7lb. If it was sold it would fetch $25,000. It's named after Vince Lombardi who was the coach of the Green Bay Packers who won the first Super Bowl in 1967.
9. 72 footballs are used for each Superbowl game.
10. Another feature of the event is somebody mega-famous singing the National Anthem and sometimes falling out of their dress like Janet Jackson did in 2004. The most popular version ever was by Whitney Houston in 1991, just after the start of the Gulf War. Her rendition was released as a single and went to number one, the only time the US National Anthem has ever been at the top of the charts.

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