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Arthur Singer

September 3rd, 2008 admin No comments

Arthur Singer

Super Bowl: Ticketnest

Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League ( NFL ) in professional American football. It is played in the United States.

On January 15, 1967, the first game was played as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It was the game played between NFL championship team and the American Football League (AFL) for the "World Championship of Professional Football". In 1970, both leagues were merged and the Super Bowl became the NFL's championship game. Since then, the game has been played annually on a Sunday following the playoffs. Originally it was played early to mid-January, then late January, and in 2002, the first Sunday in February.

The Super Bowl has become one of the most popular and the most profitable broadcast of the year for US television. It earned millions of dollars in the form of T.V commercials. This has caused the starting time of the game to be pushed back later and later, to ensure the Sunday night prime time audience on the East Coast.

Instead of mentioning year of game, the Roman numerals are used to identify each game of the Super Bowl. The identification of the games by the year of the Super Bowl could casue confusion because The The NFL (http://www.ticketnest.com/NFL.php ) season spreads over two calendar years. For example, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winners of Super Bowl XXXVII are the champions of the 2002 NFL season, even though the championship game was played in January 2003.

The National Football League (NFL) and its rival, the American Football League (AFL) were merged through an Agreement. The Super Bowl was created as part of this agreement. After its inception in 1920, the NFL fended off several rival leagues before the AFL began play in 1960. In 1966, there were serious merger talks between the two leagues keeping in view of the intensive competitive war for players and fans.

According to the AFL-NFL Merger Agreement, It had a condition that the winners of each league's championship game would meet in a contest to determine the "world champion of football". During the discussions to iron out the details, AFL founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had jokingly referred to the proposed interleague championship as the "Super Bowl." Hunt thought of the name after seeing his daughter playing with a toy called a Super Ball. The ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The name was feasible because postseason college football games had long been known as "bowl games". However, the owners named the contest the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. But the fans and media continued using the shorter, unofficial name. Starting with the third contest in January 1969, the name "Super Bowl" became official.

The first two Super Bowls were won by the NFL's Green Bay Packers convincingly. It led many to doubt that AFL teams could compete with their NFL counterparts. That all changed with perhaps the biggest upset in American sports history, the AFL's New York Jets defeat of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami. One year later, the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL Minnesota Vikings 23-7 and won Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, the last World Championship game played between the champions of two leagues.

When the NFL and AFL merged into one combined league for the 1970 season, three NFL teams joined the 10 AFL teams to form the American Football Conference (AFC), and the other 13 teams became the National Football Conference (NFC). Since then, the Super Bowl has featured the champions of the AFC and NFC, which are determined each season by the league's playoff tournament. As of Super Bowl XL, former AFL teams have won 12 Super Bowls, pre-1970 NFL teams have won 26 games, and two games have been won by teams created after 1970.

Pete Rozelle, is often considered the mastermind of both the merger and the Super Bowl. He was the NFL commissioner at that time, His leadership guided them into the merger agreement and cemented the preeminence of the Super Bowl. The game remains his crowning achievement.

Vince Lombardi Trophy is lifted by the winning team. This Trophy is named for the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games. Following his death in September 1970, the trophy was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy, first awarded at Super Bowl V in Miami.

The Super Bowl has become very popular game in the USA. It is one of the most watched television programs of the year. The game successfully has high Nielsen television ratings which usually come in around a 40 rating and 60 share. This means that on average, 80 to 90 million Americans are tuned into the Super Bowl at any given moment.

The broadcast of the Super Bowl became the premier showcase for high concept or simply extravagantly expensive commercials. Famous commercial campaigns include the Budweiser "Bud Bowl" campaign, and the 1999 and 2000 dot-com ads. Prices have increased each year.

During Super Bowl XL in 2006, there was a record 2.5 million (US) advertisement for a 30 second spot.

Earlier Super Bowls/NFL Championships featured halftime show consisting of marching bands from local colleges or high schools. But as the popularity of the game increased, so did the potential of exposure. This has led to trend where a number of popular singers and musicians have performed during its pregame ceremonies, the halftime show, or even just singing the national anthem of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner". Super Bowl XL in 2006 featured Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and John Legend during the pregame ceremonies; Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin, and Dr. John performed the national anthem; and The Rolling Stones

The Super Bowls has been broadcasted from different TV networks from year to year. Up until 2006 in the United States, ABC, CBS, and FOX have availed the opportunities of telecasting the Super Bowls in rotation. NBC will take ABC's place in the network rotation starting with Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

NFL chooses the location of the Super Bowl well in advance. It is usually 3 to 5 years before the game. Cities compete to host the game in a selection bidding process.

For more information about Super Bowl Visit: http://www.ticketnest.com/sports-tickets/Super-Bowl/index.php

About the Author

Ron Arthur is a Search Engine Marketer working for Carlsbad, CA based web-metrics company Sofizar (http://www.sofizar.net ). He is a member of the team developing a click fraud ( http://www.sofizar.com/click-fraud.php ) detection software ZarTective. While not writing exposes on the darker side of the web, he plays with his cat Mano and watches Rocky Horror Picture Show for the 17th time. Or maybe 117th.