21 things you should know about Super Bowl LVIII

The stage is set. In two weeks’ time, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will play in their second Super Bowl matchup in four years. In anticipation of the biggest game of the year, here are 21 facts to get you ready for Super Bowl LVIII.

1. Las Vegas is hosting the Super Bowl just four years after opening in 2020. The NFL is quietly developing a soft rotation of stadiums to host its Super Bowls: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami, and Phoenix. Vegas could join this group if its inaugural run goes well.
2. Reba McEntire will be singing the national anthem, Andra Day will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and Post Malone will perform “America the Beautiful.” The national anthem has been played at every Super Bowl, first performed by bands and choirs. Lloyd Geisler was the first to perform the anthem solo (on trumpet), while Charley Pride was the first to sing the anthem solo.
3. Usher is performing in the Apple Music Halftime Show. Before Michael Jackson’s solo halftime show broke the mold in 1993, the Halftime Show was dominated by college marching bands, bizarre bit acts like Elvis impersonators and 88 grand piano players, and one-off celebrity cameo appearances. The Grambling State University Marching Band was featured in a record six halftime shows, while nonprofit song-and-dance performers Up With People hosted five.
4. Through the first 57 Super Bowls, the coin toss has a slight edge toward tails. Tails has won 31 of the 57 coin tosses, including four of the last five years.
5. Americans spend around $1 billion on beer during Super Bowl Sunday and an additional $1.3 billion in the two weeks leading up to the game. In 2020, the National Chicken Council estimated that Americans ate 1.4 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl weekend.
6. A 30-second ad for Super Bowl LVIII costs $7 million on average.
7. The NFL began using Roman numerals to distinguish Super Bowls after Super Bowl V, backdating I through IV. The move was done to eliminate confusion around the event – because of the NFL season’s spot on the calendar, the regular season kickoff and Super Bowl take place in two different yeats.
8. There will be a children’s-themed Super Bowl broadcast simulcast on Nickelodeon. Spongebob Squarepants characters will co-host the broadcast alongside Nate Burleson and Noah Eagle.
9. 2024’s Super Bowl could be shaping up to be the most viewed in history. The NFC Championship between the Lions and 49ers drew 56 million viewers, the largest TV audience since Super Bowl LVII. The Ravens-Chiefs AFC Championship drew 55.47 million viewers, the most-watched AFC Championship ever.
10. Despite being in the gambling capital of the country, the NFL is barring players on either team from betting in any form during Super Bowl week. As an act of precaution, the teams will stay at separate resorts on Lake Las Vegas about 25 miles from the Strip.
11. The Chiefs are this year’s home team, which means they get to decide the uniforms they wear and call the coin toss. Because the game is hosted in an AFC team’s stadium, the Chiefs will also get to use their division-rival Raiders’ home practice facility.
12. Kansas City is looking to become the ninth team in NFL history to win back-to-back Super Bowls, the first team to do so since the 2003-04 New England Patriots.
13. With his win in the AFC Championship, Patrick Mahomes has extended his record for most playoff wins before the age of 30 (14). At 14-3, Mahomes also has the best win percentage of any quarterback with a minimum of 17 playoff appearances.
14. Travis Kelce is one of the most successful playoff receivers in NFL history. During the AFC Championship, Kelce broke Jerry Rice’s record for most playoff receptions (151) and tied Rice for most 100-yard receiving games in the playoffs (8). Kelce is three touchdowns away from tying Rice’s playoff record (22) and 435 yards behind his playoff receiving yards record (2,245).
15. Rashee Rice is five receptions away from tying the record for most playoff receptions by a rookie (Ja’Marr Chase, 25)
16. Andy Reid currently has the second-most playoff victories among head coaches with 25. He needs six more wins to tie current leader Bill Belichick.
17. Kyle Shanahan enters Super Bowl LVIII with an 8-3 playoff record, the highest playoff win percentage of any head coach (min. 10 games) to have never won a Super Bowl.
18. San Francisco’s eighth trip to the Super Bowl ties the Dallas Cowboys for second-most all-time. The NFC Championship also gave the 49ers their 38th playoff victory, the most in NFL history.
19. The 49ers have given up 52 points so far during their playoff run. Among the 48 teams to make the Super Bowl since 2000, that is the fourth-most points given up in the divisional and championship rounds. The 2019 Chiefs (55 points allowed) and the 2018 Patriots (57 points allowed) both won the Super Bowl, while the 2012 49ers (55 points allowed) lost their matchup.
20. Brock Purdy became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to win four playoff games in his first two seasons, joining Ben Roethlisberger, Gifford Nielsen, Mark Sanchez, and Russell Wilson.
21. While Purdy is the first seventh-round quarterback to start a Super Bowl, two UDFAs have also started Super Bowl games: Kurt Warner (2000, 2002, 2009) and Jake Delhomme (2004).