Here’s everything you need to know for Super Bowl 50
Super Bowl 50 kicks off Sunday. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the big game.
The basics
WHO: Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos
WHAT: Super Bowl 50
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
TV/RADIO: CBS; KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)
LINE: Panthers -5½; total 45
Tickets, anyone?
Tickets were selling for an average price of $4,957 as of Wednesday night, according to ticket tracking site SeatGeek. That’s more than the $4,672 average ticket price for the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao title fight May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden, currently the most expensive sporting ticket on record. It’s also more than the $4,271 average ticket price for last year’s Super Bowl, which set a record for the game. Also as of Wednesday night, the most expensive tickets sold were two seats near the 50-yard line that went for $20,500 each.
Uniforms
The Broncos are the home team and will wear white uniforms. They are 0-4 when wearing orange in the Super Bowl, 1-1 in white and 1-0 in blue. The Panthers will wear black as the visiting team. In their only other Super Bowl appearance, they wore white and lost to the Patriots.
The zebras
The seven-member crew includes referee Clete Blakeman, umpire Jeff Rice, head linesman Wayne Mackie, line judge Rusty Baynes, field judge Boris Cheek, side judge Scott Edwards and back judge Keith Ferguson. This will be Rice’s third Super Bowl. Together, that’s 97 years of NFL officiating experience. For the close calls, Charles Stewart is the replay official, and Jimmy Oldham is his assistant.
Under the NFL officiating program’s evaluation system, officials must be rated in the top tier at their position to be eligible for the Super Bowl. They must have at least five years of NFL experience and previous playoff assignments.
Pass the guac
Estimates suggest that during the Super Bowl, we consume 4,000 tons of popcorn, eight million pounds of guacamole with 14,500 tons of chips, and more than 1.2 billion chicken wings, among other snacks. We will wash that down with over 325 million gallons of beer.
Who you got?
According to Superbowlbets.com, every year an estimated 200 million people worldwide wager about $10 billion on some form of Super Bowl bet.
You paid what?
The cost of Super Bowl ads has hit an almost absurd $5 million for a 30-second spot, up 11 percent from last year.
A big house
Levi’s Stadium is a $1.2 billion venue with 1.85 million square feet. It seats about 68,500 and features 165 luxury suites and 8,500 club seats. One of the most unique features of the facility is the green roof atop the suite tower on the west side of the stadium. The three solar bridges, connecting the main parking area to the stadium, include hundreds of solar panels.
New ground
Peyton Manning will be the first quarterback in NFL history to play in multiple Super Bowls for two teams (Broncos and Colts).
Cream rises
The game marks the third consecutive season that the league’s top-seeded playoff teams reached the Super Bowl.
Position votes
If you’re trying to guess who will be the Super Bowl 50 MVP, the fast money is on a quarterback — either Cam Newton or Peyton Manning. The long shot is a special teams player. There has been one return specialist (Desmond Howard) to win the award and no kickers. The winner of the award receives the Pete Rozelle Trophy. Here’s a breakdown of Super Bowl MVPs by position:
Quarterback 27; running back 7; wide receiver 6; linebacker 3; defensive end 2; safety 2; cornerback 1; defensive tackle 1; kick/punt returner 1.
Lots of eyes
Last year’s game, in which the Patriots defeated the Seahawks, was the most-watched TV show of all time with a record average of 114.4 million viewers in the United States, according to Nielsen.
Cashing out
Each member of the winning team receives $102,000. Each member of the losing team gets $51,000.
Second time coming
The San Francisco Bay Area is hosting a Super Bowl for the second time. Here’s how the 50 sites break down by total:
New Orleans 10; South Florida 10; Los Angeles 7; Tampa Bay 4; Arizona 3; San Diego 3; Detroit 2; Atlanta 2; Houston 2; Bay Area 2; North Texas 1; Indianapolis 1; Jacksonville 1; Minneapolis 1; New York/New Jersey 1
Looking ahead
Super Bowl LI, Houston, Feb. 5, 2017 (tentative date)
Super Bowl LII, Minnesota, Feb. 4, 2018 (tentative date)