It’s about that time of year again where America show the entire world how to host a sporting event. Nothing can even compare to the level that the Super Bowl is on. Not the Football World Cup, the Olympics or the Rochdale mixed pair bowls league. If you want an epic display of razzmatazz, mixed in with a touch of sport and a whole plethora of celebrities then Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis on February 5th is right up your street. So let me take you on a whistle-stop tour of the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ as I breakdown down the teams, money and celebs of Super Bowl XLVI.
The Tale of the Tape
When the New England Patriots meet the New York Giants on the 5th February, it will be a rematch of one of my favourite ever Super Bowl’s, Super Bowl XLII. Then, the Patriots, led by “Mr NFL” Tom Brady, went in to the game as massive favourites on the back of an unbeaten season. They were facing the Giants, led by Peyton Manning’s little brother Eli, who have made it to the big show seemingly just to make up the numbers. Everybody and their dogs would have put their houses on the Patriots completing the fairy tale and finishing the season with a clean record. What actually happened was that Peyton’s little brother stepped out of the great man’s shadow and stood firmly atop of the tree as he lead the Giants to a most unlikely victory.
Going into this game, the Patriots are again favourites, although this time no-one is underestimating the Giants. The Patriots finished their season as the AFC’s #1 seed and a 13-3 record. The Giants, however, finished with a miserly 9-7 record and scraped in the Playoffs via the wildcard game. Don’t let this fool you though as the Giants have been playing with more momentum each week. Eli Manning is coming off a career season in 2011 where he set franchise records for both yards and touchdowns. Impressive yes? Well not compared to the season Tom Brady just had as he threw for 5,246 yards which is the second highest total in the NFL EVER! Don’t be fooled to think that this will just be a battle of offences though, as both teams have some go-to guys on D in the Patriots Vince Wilfork and the Giants Jason Pierre-Paul. The UK is even represented, as Giants defensive end Osi Umeniyiora was born in London.
Lets Talk Turkey
With the enormous amounts of showbiz the ‘big game’ brings to the table, it also creates enough cash to bail out a European country. For a start, there is the famous Super Bowl commercials, which this year averaged a cool $3.5million per 30 second advert. Bare in mind that the Superbowl is on for about 4 hours and in the US they have advert breaks about every ten minutes. That’s some chunk of change! Ticket prices for the end-of-season finale average out at a miserly $3,984, with the top seats going for about $15,000. The game will be watched by well over 100 million people in 232 countries around the globe. But all of this pales in comparison to the whopping £11billion that US consumers are estimated to spend on Super Bowl weekend. on items such as beer, potato chips and flat screen tv’s.
It’s all about the glamour, darling
You can’t talk Super Bowl without talking the half-time show. Once upon a time, half-time used to be a chance for the players to have a breather during the game. Not in the Super Bowl mate. The half-time show has near eclipsed the actual game for the ability to get people talking. This years 20 minute bonanza will be hosted by old ‘saggy chops’ herself, the first lady of pop, Madonna. She will reportedly be joined by M.I.A and ‘Super Skank’ Nicki Minaj, which bodes the question to which one of these lovely ladies will cause the most controversy? But the Celebs don’t just come out for the half-time show, as American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson will sing the American National Anthem before the game, with country singing super-team Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert singing ‘America the Beautiful’ as well. Phew! Somebody call OK! magazine!
So who will actually win?
Bookmakers across the USA have made the New England Patriots a 3.5 point favourite, which means that if you bet on the Patriots and they won by three points you would lose, but if they won by 4 points you’d win. Understand me? Thought not. Personally though, I’m going to go with the Giants to win by around four points. Partially because they beat my team, the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game two weeks ago, but mostly because Kimberley (@kengel), our technology writer is an NY native and massive Giants fan (and I don’t want to upset her). In all honesty though, if you have never watched a Super Bowl before then give this a watch and YOU will be the big winner, as you will have watched your first of many Super Bowls, and realised that it is, in fact, ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’.
