If you’ve stumbled across this article, odds are you’re new to American football and slightly curious as to why there’s always such a big hype around this annual event. If that’s you, welcome! Here is a short beginner’s guide on how to navigate the Super Bowl.
As a kid, I hated watching football. With only one TV in the house, it was back-to-back NFL games on Sundays from 1 p.m. onwards. While I wanted to watch Big Fun Movies on YTV, if I wanted to watch television, I had no choice but to watch football.
Slowly but surely, I grew to like the sport I once despised so much. The more I watched, the more I began to appreciate the strategy and skill needed to win a game. Once I understood how the game worked, the more invested I became. Fast forward a decade later, and I’ll sacrifice my only shift at work just to watch Sunday Night Football on NBC.
The moral of the story — even if you think you don’t think you’ll like football in the first place, give it a chance. What better place is there to start than watching the Super Bowl?
What You Need To Watch
Pick a Team
This year, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are playing on Sunday, Feb.11, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.
Regardless of whether or not you are familiar with the teams playing, picking a team makes watching the Super Bowl a lot more fun.
How do you go about picking a team? I used to choose which team’s jersey looked better. If I liked a team’s jersey better than the other, boom, that was my team for the game.
Another way you could go about it is by rooting for whoever people say has a higher chance of winning. And for those who are a little more invested, researching can also help you choose which team to root for.
A Basic Understanding of the Game
And now to the stuff that matters. In football, there are four quarters that last 15 minutes each. Each team consists of 11 players on the field and has four downs/chances to gain 10 yards.
Essentially, the objective is to keep getting a new set of downs (successfully advance 10 yards) to reach the ultimate goal of scoring a touchdown in their opponent’s end zone. Each touchdown is worth six points. After each touchdown, the kicker has the chance to score an additional point, making it seven points. If this still doesn’t make sense (it’s a lot in one go), this short video posted by the NFL UK YouTube channel explains it well.
Junk Food
This is an absolute must. In my household, I make it a rule that we buy at least three bags of party-sized chips before the big game. Other things you should highly consider having are pizza, potato wedges, and chicken wings. If ever there was a night for you to splurge on junk food, this is the night to do so.
I Still Don’t Care For Football. Now What?
Halftime Show
Still not convinced to watch the game? No worries! There are plenty of things to stay for. For example, the iconic halftime show. This year, Usher is set to headline the show.
My favourite halftime show that I’ve watched live was Super Bowl 50, which featured Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Coldplay. If you haven’t seen it, do yourselves a favour and watch this iconic performance. I still get chills when I rewatch the video.
And who could forget last year’s Super Bowl halftime show starring Rihanna? According to Billboard, her performance was the most-watched halftime show performance of all time, attracting about 121 million viewers.
Seriously, even if the game happens to be terrible, the halftime show will make up for it.
Commercials
Also, the commercials! With companies going all out during the Super Bowl, it’s that rare time in the year when it’s worth your while watching advertisements. According to Forbes, a 30-second Super Bowl commercial cost an average of $7 million last year. From the Breaking Bad boys munching on PopCorners to Melissa McCarthy singing about booking a vacation on Booking.com, check out some of the best Super Bowl commercials from last year.
Personally, my favourite is the Hyundai Sonata “Smaht Pahk” commercial that aired during the 2020 Super Bowl and featured Chris Evans, Ratchel Dratch, John Krasinski, and David Ortiz showcasing their Boston accents. There are probably much funnier advertisements out there, but never has a car commercial stayed with me like this one has.
From show-stopping performances during halftime to witty advertisements chock-full of celebrities to the big game itself, it’s clear that the Super Bowl has something for everyone.
If you reached the end of this article, I believe that’s the sign to start your Super Bowl journey!