Super Facts for the Super Bowl

So Sunday night they are playing this football game in Arizona matching the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots.  

Super Bowl XLIX will take place in the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.  The University of Phoenix does not have a football team but they do own the name of the stadium. Kickoff is at 6:30pm and the game will be televised by NBC.

I’m allowed to say Super Bowl in this segment although you’ve likely seen and heard many mentions calling it the “Big Game.”  That’s because Super Bowl is licensed so if you’re using it for any commercial reasons and you haven’t paid then NFL then it’s the “Big Game.” Here are some big facts:

• Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest day for consumption of food and drink in the U.S. behind only Thanksgiving.  Top food choices include dips and spreads followed by chicken wings, popcorn & pizza.  Domino’s Pizza delivery guys will drive 4 million miles on Sunday, 1.25 billion chicken wings will be chomped on and more than 325 million gallons of beer will be consumed, more than any other day but July 4^th.
• Face value of the cheapest ticket is $800 but reports say the average ticket will end up topping $5000.  Tickets for the first Super Bowl in 1967 sold for as little as $6 and there were more than 30,000 empty seats in the L.A. Coliseum for that game between the Packers and Chiefs.
• Despite last year’s blowout win by Seattle over Denver it was watched by a record 111.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched TV program in American history.  The top 5 programs of all-time are Super Bowls.

A 30-second commercial during the game costs an estimated $4.5 million and all the inventory has been sold.  For the first Super Bowl the average commercial went for about $40,000.  There will be plenty of viewers who will concentrate more on the commercials than the game.