Misplaced Pages

#395604

229-620: Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 season . The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals , 23–20. The game was played on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California , the home stadium of

458-704: A conspiracy to violate antitrust law , by granting DirecTV exclusive rights to sell the Sunday Ticket product, thereby restricting competition and forcing viewers to pay super competitive prices to view out-of-market games. On June 27, 2024, a jury in Los Angeles found that the NFL had violated antitrust law in setting the price of the Sunday ticket package and ordered a penalty totaling more than $ 4.7 billion. With triple damages allowed under federal antitrust laws,

687-573: A delay of game penalty erased a five-yard gain on first down and a catch by Van Jefferson on third down was short of a first down. Hekker's punt was returned to the Cincinnati 30-yard-line, where the Bengals started their next series. On the drive's second play, a 46-yard pass from Burrow to Chase advanced the ball to the Los Angeles 11-yard-line, though three straight incomplete passes forced

916-636: A merger on June 8, 1966, to take full effect in 1970. In the meantime, the leagues would hold a common draft and championship game. The game, the Super Bowl , was held four times before the merger, with the NFL winning Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II , and the AFL winning Super Bowl III and Super Bowl IV . After the league merged, it was reorganized into two conferences: the National Football Conference (NFC), consisting of most of

1145-545: A professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins annually with a three-week preseason in August, followed by

1374-423: A 16-yard gain, but from there the Cincinnati offense stalled and an unnecessary roughness penalty on third down forced a punt on 4th-and-29, which was returned to the Los Angeles 35-yard-line. The Rams punted the ball back after another three-and-out of their own, and Cincinnati took over after the punt went out of bounds at their 16-yard-line. A 12-yard rush by Mixon gained a first down on the drive's first play and

1603-603: A 27–3 lead against the defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers , but committed a series of fumbles that led to the Buccaneers tying the game with 42 seconds remaining. Nevertheless, Stafford drove the Rams 63 yards off two passes to Kupp, which allowed Gay to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired. The NFC Championship Game pitted the Rams against the NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers , who swept them in

1832-415: A 29-yard field goal attempt, which was converted by Evan McPherson , making the score 7–3 Rams. After a touchback, the Rams got the ball on their own 25-yard-line; they ran one play, an Akers rush for a loss of one yard, before the first quarter ended. The Rams started the second quarter facing 2nd-and-11 on their own 24-yard-line. An unsuccessful deep pass from Stafford to Kupp was immediately followed by

2061-475: A 3-yard pass from Burrow to Chris Evans then gained another first down on 3rd-and-2; however, Cincinnati was not able to gain another first down and punted three plays later on 4th-and-9. Receiving the ball on their own 21-yard-line, the Rams found themselves facing 4th-and-1 just four plays into the drive, but a 7-yard rush by Kupp on an end-around converted it for a first down. They reached Bengals' territory three plays later. A 22-yard pass from Stafford to Kupp

2290-410: A 35-yard pass to Beckham and a 25-yard pass to Henderson. Now inside the red zone at the Cincinnati 16-yard-line, Henderson rushed for five yards before Stafford passed to Kupp for an 11-yard touchdown. The extra point was unsuccessful as Hekker mishandled the snap, then threw an interception to Germaine Pratt , keeping the Rams lead at 13–3. The ensuing kickoff was a touchback, and the Bengals advanced

2519-460: A 38-yard field goal made by McPherson, after being pushed back nine yards by a sack by Aaron Donald on the previous play. Now leading by seven points, the Bengals kicked off for a touchback. Shortly into the drive, the Rams faced a 3rd-and-8, which they converted for 15 yards with a pass from Stafford to Henderson. Overall, the drive covered 11 plays and 52 yards, with Stafford completing 4/5 passes for 44 yards before Matt Gay 's 41-yard field goal made

SECTION 10

#1732772972396

2748-532: A 97 passer rating. He also rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns. The team's top receiver was Mike Wallace who caught 60 passes for 1,257 yards and 10 touchdowns, giving him a 21 yards per catch average. Other reliable options included 13-year veteran Hines Ward (59 receptions for 755 yards and 5 touchdowns), the Steelers all-time leading receiver, and tight end Heath Miller who caught 42 passes for 512 yards. Halfback Rashard Mendenhall

2977-625: A blizzard; in 2012, when the Kickoff game was moved from Thursday to Wednesday to avoid conflict with the Democratic National Convention ; and in 2020, when a game was postponed from Sunday to Tuesday due to players testing positive for COVID-19 . NFL regular season match-ups are determined according to a scheduling formula. Within a division, all four teams play 14 out of their 17 games against common opponents or each other– two games (home and away) are played against

3206-488: A club's franchise or any other action, he deems necessary. The commissioner can also issue sanctions up to and including a lifetime ban from the league if an individual connected to the NFL has bet on games or failed to notify the league of conspiracies or plans to bet on or fix games. The current Commissioner of the National Football League is Roger Goodell, who was elected in 2006 after Paul Tagliabue ,

3435-407: A club's season being canceled, a restocking draft would be held. Neither of these protocols has ever had to be implemented. Free agents in the National Football League are divided into restricted free agents , who have three accrued seasons and whose current contract has expired, and unrestricted free agents , who have four or more accrued seasons and whose contract has expired. An accrued season

3664-586: A combined five conference championships since then. Three NFL cities presented bids for the game: NFL owners voted to select the North Texas site on May 22, 2007. It marked the first Super Bowl in the Dallas–Fort Worth area after numerous unsuccessful bids in the 1960s-1970s. The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the 2010 season with a 12–4 record. They earned the AFC North division title, and

3893-606: A different football code than the American game, the CFL established a niche market in Canada and still survives as an independent league. A new professional league, the fourth American Football League (AFL), began to play in 1960. The upstart AFL began to challenge the established NFL in popularity, gaining lucrative television contracts and engaging in a bidding war with the NFL for free agents and draft picks. The two leagues announced

4122-440: A drive that was even shorter, as they went three-and-out in 26 seconds and punted back to Cincinnati; Burrow then took a knee to end the half. Cincinnati had their first lead of the game on the first play of the second half, when Burrow threw a deep pass to Higgins on near the left sideline, who was tangled up with defensive back Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey fell down just before Higgins caught a pass, leaving him wide open. Higgins ran to

4351-412: A few plays afterwards got them to the Bengals' 24-yard-line and they reached the red zone with another Stafford to Kupp pass, this for 8 yards. After the two-minute warning, three incomplete passes followed, but a holding penalty on linebacker Logan Wilson gave the Rams a first down. After the next play (a touchdown cancelled by offsetting penalties against both teams), Bengals' defensive back Eli Apple

4580-590: A foot injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the postseason. Their victory also came with controversy when a touchdown pass from Burrow to Boyd appeared to be whistled dead by an official before Boyd caught the ball. Cincinnati defeated the top-seeded Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round 19–16 off a last-second field goal by McPherson, which was the franchise's first away playoff win. The victory occurred despite Burrow being sacked nine times, tying Warren Moon 's 1993 postseason record and making him

4809-458: A lower pick than any team that did not make the divisional round. The Super Bowl champion always drafts last, and the losing team from the Super Bowl always drafts next-to-last. All potential draftees must be at least three years removed from high school in order to be eligible for the draft. Underclassmen that have met that criterion to be eligible for the draft must write an application to

SECTION 20

#1732772972396

5038-419: A minority of preseason games are distributed among the league's national television partners. Through the 2014 season, the NFL had a blackout policy in which games were 'blacked out' on local television in the home team's area if the home stadium was not sold out. Clubs could elect to set this requirement at only 85%, but they would have to give more ticket revenue to the visiting team; teams could also request

5267-739: A number of awards for its players and coaches at its annual NFL Honors presentation. The most prestigious award is the AP Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Other major awards include the AP Offensive Player of the Year , AP Defensive Player of the Year , AP Comeback Player of the Year , and the AP Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards. Another prestigious award is the Walter Payton Man of

5496-501: A one-time modification to the annual cycle among the three main broadcast television partners of the NFL. Under the normal cycle the game would have been televised by CBS . However, in order to avoid counterprogramming the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing —which are televised exclusively by NBC —the NFL announced on March 13, 2019, that NBC had agreed to swap 2021's Super Bowl LV to CBS in exchange for Super Bowl LVI. This swap gave NBC

5725-534: A one-year retreat with three ads for their Pepsi Max drink, which has been named as the official soft drink of the NFL. Pepsi's Frito-Lay brand also advertised Doritos . Both brands had their advertisements created by web users as part of the annual USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter contest, which offers a prize of US $ 5 million. In addition, regular purchasers Anheuser-Busch InBev , GoDaddy.com , Coca-Cola , CareerBuilder.com , and E*TRADE purchased advertisements; InBev advertised Stella Artois imported beer for

5954-587: A pass from Garoppolo that was intercepted by linebacker Travin Howard to secure the 20–17 victory. Higbee suffered a knee injury during the game that forced him to miss the Super Bowl. The Bengals defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 26–19 in the Wild Card Round for their first playoff victory since 1990, ending the longest drought in the four major North American sports. However, Ogunjobi suffered

6183-524: A playoff bid, the number of wild card teams from each conference dropped from three to two. The playoffs expanded again in 2020, adding two more wild card teams to bring the total to 14 playoff teams. The NFL consists of 32 clubs divided into two conferences of 16 teams each. Each conference is divided into four divisions of four clubs each. During the regular season, each team is allowed a maximum of 55 players on its roster; only 48 of these may be active (eligible to play) on game days. Each team can also have

6412-504: A playoff game in his previous 12 years with the Detroit Lions . The Bengals, who finished with a 10–7 record, were seeking their first Super Bowl title following several decades of losing seasons and playoff struggles. They won their first playoff game since 1990, ending the longest drought in the four major North American sports, en route to their third Super Bowl appearance and first since 1988's Super Bowl XXIII . Each team finished

6641-695: A record 167 million people that watched Super Bowl XLVIII , the conclusion to the 2013 season. In addition to radio networks run by each NFL team, select NFL games are broadcast nationally by Westwood One (known as Dial Global for the 2012 season). These games are broadcast on over 500 networks, giving all NFL markets access to each primetime game. The NFL's deal with Westwood One was extended in 2012 and continued through 2017. Other NFL games are nationally distributed by Compass Media Networks and Sports USA Radio Network under contracts with individual teams. Some broadcasting innovations have either been introduced or popularized during NFL telecasts. Among them,

6870-882: A redecorated version of the Football Night in America set) before flying out to Los Angeles for Super Bowl weekend. Tirico then presented the Games' primetime coverage from NBC's lakeside set on the SoFi Stadium grounds, before returning to Stamford after the Super Bowl. The game was broadcast in Spanish by NBC's sister network Telemundo , the first time that a dedicated Spanish-language telecast aired on broadcast television. Carlos Mauricio Ramirez handled play by play duties while Jorge Andres and Rolando Cantu handled in-booth, pre-game and post-game analysis. Ariana Figuera

7099-565: A simulcast with ESPN. Amazon , through their Prime Video streaming service, is the exclusive carrier of the Thursday Night Football package. NFL Network, a U.S. pay cable channel owned by the league itself, broadcasts select games under the NFL Network Exclusive Game Series banner. Games under this banner usually consist of NFL International Series games and select Saturday games. In 2023,

Super Bowl LVI - Misplaced Pages Continue

7328-405: A sixteen-player practice squad separate from its main roster. Each NFL club is granted a franchise, the league's authorization for the team to operate in its home city. This franchise covers 'Home Territory' (the 75 miles surrounding the city limits, or, if the team is within 100 miles of another league city, half the distance between the two cities) and 'Home Marketing Area' (Home Territory plus

7557-550: A specific exemption from the NFL for the game. The vast majority of NFL games were not blacked out; only 6% of games were blacked out during the 2011 season , and only two games were blacked out in 2013 and none in 2014 . The NFL announced in March 2015 that it would suspend its blackout policy for at least the 2015 season . According to Nielsen , the NFL regular season since 2012 was watched by at least 200 million individuals, accounting for 80% of all television households in

7786-605: A statement that would come true). Woodson then broke the Packers meeting with a team cheer of "White House!". On January 26 President Obama visited Green Bay and was greeted by Mayor Jim Schmitt and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who presented the President with two Green Bay Packers Jerseys. The first had Obama's name on the back with the number 1 and the second was an autographed Charles Woodson jersey with

8015-429: A stylized image of the host stadium shown in the background. It was introduced as part of a new, standardized branding scheme for the NFL's postseason games, which also saw the redesign of the conference championship trophies. The only changes made to the logo for future games, until Super Bowl 50 , was to change the number and the stadium depicted. Super Bowl 50 deviated slightly from the standard design to emphasize

8244-471: A team that finishes last would play two other last-place teams in the conference. The final game is an inter-conference based on a rotating cycle and determined by previous season's standings. In total, each team plays 17 games and has one bye week, where it does not play a game. Although a team's home and away opponents are known by the end of the previous year's regular season, the exact dates and times for NFL games are not determined until much later because

8473-537: A three-time Super Bowl winner as a Dallas Cowboys quarterback, as the color analyst . Mike Pereira joined Buck and Aikman in the broadcast booth to comment on instant replay reviews, while Pam Oliver and Chris Myers served as sideline reporters . The pre-game show featured the Fox NFL Sunday crew of host Curt Menefee and a group of analysts with extensive Super Bowl experiences of their own: Terry Bradshaw (4 time Super Bowl-winning quarterback with

8702-554: A ticket to the next Super Bowl in addition to the refund. It also offered fans the option of a ticket to any future Super Bowl, along with round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations. However, this wasn't enough to mollify several fans, who on February 9 filed a $ 5 million class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Cowboys and Jones. In addition to Steelers and Packers fans left without seats, the suit includes Cowboys fans who paid $ 100,000 for personal seat licenses , only to have to watch

8931-555: A total of 32 are given. Clubs are required to make their selection within a certain period of time, the exact time depending on which round the pick is made in. If they fail to do so on time, the clubs behind them can begin to select their players in order, but they do not lose the pick outright. This happened in the 2003 draft , when the Minnesota Vikings failed to make their selection on time. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers were able to make their picks before

9160-570: A touchdown (as well as one carry for seven yards) on the Rams final drive. at SoFi Stadium , Inglewood, California Completions/attempts Carries Long gain Receptions Times targeted Super Bowl LVI featured seven officials . Continuing a practice instituted the previous year an alternate official was assigned for each position of an official on the field and the replay official. The numbers in parentheses below indicate their uniform numbers. The 2022 Rams finished 5–12, setting

9389-501: A touchdown to retake the lead with under two minutes remaining and stopped Cincinnati's final drive on downs. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp , who converted a fourth down on the Rams' final drive and scored the game-winning touchdown, was named Super Bowl MVP . NBC 's broadcast of Super Bowl LVI was the second-most watched in the game's history, marking a shift from several years of declining ratings. Seen by an average of 112.3 million total viewers on both NBC and its streaming platforms,

Super Bowl LVI - Misplaced Pages Continue

9618-503: A two-conference system from 1933 to 1966 , where the champions of each conference would meet in the NFL Championship Game . If two teams tied for the conference lead, they would meet in a one-game playoff to determine the conference champion. In 1967 , the NFL expanded from 15 teams to 16 teams. Instead of just evening out the conferences by adding the expansion New Orleans Saints to the seven-member Western Conference,

9847-427: Is defined as "six or more regular-season games on a club's active/inactive, reserved/injured or reserve/physically unable to perform lists". Restricted free agents are allowed to negotiate with other clubs besides their former club, but the former club has the right to match any offer. If they choose not to, they are compensated with draft picks. Unrestricted free agents are free to sign with any club, and no compensation

10076-448: Is earned by the 32 clubs and is taxable there. This will remain the case even when the league office and Management Council file returns as taxable entities, and the change in filing status will make no material difference to our business." As a result, the league office might owe around US$ 10 million in income taxes, but it is no longer required to disclose the salaries of its executive officers. The league has three defined officers:

10305-543: Is elected by an affirmative vote of three-fourths or 10 of the conference members. The commissioner appoints the secretary and treasurer and has broad authority in disputes between clubs, players, coaches, and employees. He is the "principal executive officer " of the NFL and also has authority in hiring league employees, negotiating television contracts, disciplining individuals that own part or all of an NFL team, clubs, or employed individuals of an NFL club if they have violated league by-laws or committed "conduct detrimental to

10534-627: Is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . The Green Bay Packers hold the most combined NFL championships with thirteen, winning nine titles before the Super Bowl era and four Super Bowls afterwards. Since the creation of the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are tied for the most Super Bowl victories at six each. The reigning league champions are the Kansas City Chiefs , who defeated

10763-510: Is normally known as the "Tom Landry Highway" in honor of former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry . While past Super Bowl games used their own unique logo designs that changed yearly and featured imagery which reflected the host city, Super Bowl XLV introduced a new standardized, silver-colored emblem, featuring an image of the Vince Lombardi Trophy sitting atop the traditional Roman numerals used to denote each edition, with

10992-463: Is owed if they sign with a different club. Clubs are given one franchise tag to offer to any unrestricted free agent. The franchise tag is a one-year deal that pays the player 120% of his previous contract or no less than the average of the five highest-paid players at his position, whichever is greater. There are two types of franchise tags: exclusive tags, which do not allow the player to negotiate with other clubs, and non-exclusive tags, which allow

11221-478: Is required to schedule three preseason games. NFC teams must play at least two of these at home in odd numbered years and AFC teams must play at least two at home in even numbered years. However, the teams involved in the Hall of Fame game, as well as any team that played in an American Bowl game, play four preseason games. Preseason games are exhibition matches and do not count towards regular-season totals. Because

11450-414: The 18-week regular season , which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week . Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference, including four division winners and three wild card teams, advance to the playoffs , a single-elimination tournament , which culminates in the Super Bowl , played in early February between

11679-467: The 2010 season . The Packers defeated the Steelers 31–25. The game was played on February 6, 2011, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas , the first time the Super Bowl was played in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. Unlike most other Super Bowls, this game featured two title-abundant franchises: coming into the game, the Packers held the most NFL championships with 12 (9 league championships prior to

SECTION 50

#1732772972396

11908-409: The 2020 NFL draft , which they used to select Heisman Trophy -winning quarterback Joe Burrow . Burrow posted strong numbers as a rookie, but won only two games before his season was cut short by a knee injury. In the following year's draft , Cincinnati used the fifth overall pick on wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase , who was Burrow's teammate at LSU . The team also drafted placekicker Evan McPherson in

12137-481: The 2023 season (which expands the Super Bowl rotation to four networks), where the cycle is aligned to give NBC rights to the Super Bowl in the future Winter Olympic years of 2026 , 2030 , and 2034 . NBC's broadcast featured Al Michaels as the lead broadcaster with Cris Collinsworth as the analyst. Michele Tafoya reported from the Rams' sideline with Kathryn Tappen reporting from the Bengals’ sideline. This

12366-658: The Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup , was donated to the NFL (then APFA) in 1920 by the Brunswick-Balke Collender Corporation . The trophy, the appearance of which is only known by its description as a "silver loving cup", was intended to be a traveling trophy and not to become permanent until a team had won at least three titles. The league awarded it to the Akron Pros, champions of the inaugural 1920 season; however,

12595-566: The Canton Evening Repository , intended to "raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules". A second meeting was held on September 17, 1920, with representatives from teams within four states: Akron, Canton, Cleveland, and Dayton from Ohio; the Hammond Pros and Muncie Flyers from Indiana;

12824-562: The Denver Broncos for eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller . A few weeks later, they signed free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. , a three-time Pro Bowl selection, after he was released by the Cleveland Browns . The Rams offense ranked ninth in yards (6,325) and tied with the Bengals for eighth in points scored (460). Stafford had career highs in touchdowns (41) and completion percentage (67.2), although he led

13053-471: The Detroit Lions in exchange for 12-year veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford . Selected first overall by the Lions in the 2009 NFL draft , Stafford held an 0–3 playoff record, but ranked in the top 20 of major passing categories and was considered more suited to Los Angeles' offense. The team made another significant acquisition midway through the season when they traded a second- and third-round draft pick to

13282-470: The Houston Texans began play as an expansion team . Other drafts held by the league include an allocation draft in 1950 to allocate players from several teams that played in the dissolved All-America Football Conference and a supplemental draft in 1984 to give NFL teams the rights to players who had been eligible for the main draft but had not been drafted because they had signed contracts with

13511-505: The Internal Revenue Code provides an exemption from federal income taxation for "Business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or professional football leagues (whether or not administering a pension fund for football players), not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual." In contrast, each individual team, with

13740-773: The Los Angeles Rams who came from a 1936 iteration of the American Football League, and the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers , both from the AAFC. By the 1950s, the NFL had an effective monopoly on professional football in the United States; its only competition in North America was the professional Canadian football circuit, which formally became the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 1958. With Canadian football being

13969-623: The Pittsburgh Steelers , who won Super Bowl XL following the 2005 season. Green Bay also joined the 2005 Steelers as the only teams ever to defeat the top three seeded teams on the road in the playoffs. In order to secure their fifth Super Bowl bid they defeated their longtime rivals, the Chicago Bears , in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field . The offense was led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers , who

SECTION 60

#1732772972396

14198-730: The Rochester Jeffersons from New York; and the Rock Island Independents , Decatur Staleys , and Racine (Chicago) Cardinals from Illinois. The league was renamed to the American Professional Football Association (APFA) . The league elected Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams (the Buffalo All-Americans , Chicago Tigers , Columbus Panhandles and Detroit Heralds joined

14427-605: The Rose Bowl ; however the actual attendance of 103,219 fell 766 fans short. League officials had indicated that they would also count spectators watching the game on large television screens from outside the stadium in the tally, which generally is not allowed in official attendance counts. However, Super Bowl XLV was the first Super Bowl game to break the 100,000 threshold in attendance since Super Bowl XXI in 1987. Due to numerous delays, including damage sustained from an ice storm , 1,250 temporary seats weren't ready in time for

14656-790: The San Francisco 49ers by a score of 25–22 in Super Bowl LVIII . On August 20, 1920, a meeting was held by representatives of the Akron Pros , Canton Bulldogs , Cleveland Indians , and Dayton Triangles at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio . This meeting resulted in the formation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), a group who, according to

14885-682: The Skycam camera system was used for the first time in a live telecast, at a 1984 preseason NFL game in San Diego between the Chargers and 49ers , and televised by CBS. Commentator John Madden famously used a telestrator during games between the early 1980s to the mid-2000s, boosting the device's popularity. Each April (excluding 2014 when it took place in May), the NFL holds a draft of college players. The draft consists of seven rounds, with each of

15114-517: The St. Louis Rams . They also won two pre-Super Bowl era championships in 1945 as the Cleveland Rams and 1951 during their first stint in Los Angeles. After the Rams lost 2018's Super Bowl LIII , quarterback Jared Goff suffered a decline in production, which led to tension between Goff and McVay. Ahead of the 2021 season, the Rams traded Goff, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick to

15343-613: The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York , seized and shut down several websites that had provided access to pirated Internet television feeds of NFL games. With an average US audience of 111 million viewers, this was the most-watched Super Bowl as well as the most-watched program of any kind in American television history, beating the previous record of 106.5 million viewers for Super Bowl XLIV . However, Super Bowl XVI still holds

15572-452: The United States Football League or Canadian Football League . Like the other major sports leagues in the United States , the NFL maintains protocol for a disaster draft . In the event of a 'near disaster' (less than 15 players killed or disabled) that caused the club to lose a quarterback, they could draft one from a team with at least three quarterbacks. In the event of a 'disaster' (15 or more players killed or disabled) that results in

15801-426: The WWE . This was the final halftime show to be sponsored by Pepsi . The halftime show was headlined by Dr. Dre , Snoop Dogg , Eminem , Mary J. Blige , and Kendrick Lamar , and it was widely praised. Surprise appearances were made by 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak . Deaf rappers Sean Forbes and Warren Snipe performed in American Sign Language during the show; this was the first time that American Sign Language

16030-411: The four major North American sports . Entering the 2021 season, the Bengals were considered unlikely to make the Super Bowl. They finished the previous three seasons at the bottom of the AFC North and had not made the playoffs since 2015 . Cincinnati was also only two years removed from a league-worst 2–14 record during Taylor's first season. This finish granted the Bengals the first overall pick of

16259-446: The highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is also among the most-watched sporting events in the world, with the individual games accounting for many of the most watched television programs in American history and all occupying the top five of Nielsen 's all-time most-watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015. The NFL

16488-463: The second-largest Super Bowl audience in history, tied with Super Bowl 50 , reversing several years of decline with a total of 112.3 million viewers. About 101.1 million viewers watched Super Bowl LVI on linear television in the United States , representing an 8% increase from the previous year's game . The broadcast on NBC had 99.2 million viewers and 1.9 million viewed

16717-485: The "Best of Sirius" package. In addition to the Westwood One and local team broadcasts, Sirius carried the following international feeds: FieldPass , the subscription Internet radio service provided by the league at NFL.com, also carried most of these feeds. Due to contractual restrictions, only Sirius XM and FieldPass were permitted to carry the local team broadcasts along with WTAQ, WIXX, WTMJ, WDVE and WBGG, with

16946-564: The 2022 season. NBC employed additional goal line, sideline and end zone camera angles, and a new on-air graphics package. The broadcast featured a special introduction starring actress Halle Berry . As Mike Tirico was the studio host for both the NFL and the Olympics, he traveled back from Beijing part-way through the Games' opening week, and briefly hosted its primetime coverage from NBC Sports' headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut (using

17175-424: The 32 clubs getting one pick in each round. The draft order for non-playoff teams is determined by regular-season record; among playoff teams, teams are first ranked by the furthest round of the playoffs they reached, and then are ranked by regular-season record. For example, any team that reached the divisional round will be given a higher pick than any team that reached the conference championships, but will be given

17404-553: The AFC in 1970 as a result of the AFL–NFL merger to even out the two conferences. The Steelers advanced to the Super Bowl with two close wins in the playoffs. After a first-round bye, the Steelers defeated their division rival , the number 5 seeded Baltimore Ravens 31–24, with Ben Roethlisberger 's 58-yard completion to Antonio Brown on third down and 19 setting up Rashard Mendenhall 's game winning 2-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left in

17633-451: The AFC package, and Fox carries afternoon games from the NFC package. These afternoon games are not carried on all affiliates, as multiple games are being played at once; each network affiliate is assigned one game per time slot, according to a complicated set of rules. Since 2011, the league has reserved the right to give Sunday games that, under the contract, would normally air on one network to

17862-632: The APFA awarded the Akron Pros the championship by virtue of their 8–0–3 record. The first event occurred on September 26, 1920, when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park . On October 3, 1920, the first full week of league play occurred. The following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. On June 24, 1922,

18091-539: The APFA changed its name to the National Football League (NFL). In 1932 , the season ended with the Chicago Bears ( 6–1–6 ) and the Portsmouth Spartans ( 6–1–4 ) tied for first in the league standings. At the time, teams were ranked on a single table and the team with the highest winning percentage (not including ties, which were not counted towards the standings) at the end of the season

18320-961: The Bears, openly supported the Steelers two years earlier in Super Bowl XLIII after the Rooney family helped with his campaigning work and later appointed Steelers chairman Dan Rooney , an ethnic Irish Catholic , the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland . He did not attend the game; instead, he hosted a 100-person Super Bowl party at the White House. Attendees included his family, elected leaders from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, DNC member Andres Lopez of Puerto Rico, Buffalo, New York mayor Byron Brown , Buffalo deputy mayor Steve Casey, Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker , Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony , both actors/singers, ESPN columnist Michael Wilbon , and Tony Kornheiser . Although

18549-720: The Beautiful ". Sandra Mae Frank performed both songs in American Sign Language alongside Guyton and Aiko, with full coverage of the ASL performance available on the NBC Sports app. Mary Mary , accompanied by the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, performed " Lift Every Voice and Sing ". Electronic music producer Zedd served as DJ during pre-game warmups. The flyover was conducted by a 5-plane formation by

18778-560: The Bengals one of only five teams with two 1,000 yard-receivers. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd further bolstered the receiving corps with 828 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. Tight end C. J. Uzomah , who missed most of the previous year with a torn Achilles, had a breakout season by setting career highs in receiving yards (493) and touchdowns (5). Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon was third in the NFL in rushing yards (1,205) and fourth in rushing touchdowns (13), while also recording 314 receiving yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. Cincinnati's defense

19007-508: The Bengals. Defensively, the Rams ranked 17th in yards allowed (5,863) and 15th in points allowed (372). Named to the Pro Bowl were defensive tackle Aaron Donald (eighth selection), who led the team in sacks (12.5), and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (fifth selection), whose 4 interceptions were tied with safety Taylor Rapp for the most on the team. Linebacker Leonard Floyd complemented Donald with 9.5 sacks and Miller had 5 sacks after joining

19236-506: The Dallas–Fort Worth area in hard ice and snow the week before the game, threatening to disrupt game preparations. Snow fell from the roof of Cowboys Stadium's East end on February 4, injuring six people. Over 3,000 tickets were sold to watch the game in the stadium's East Plaza, which experienced the falling ice tragedy earlier in the week. However, the snow had melted by game time and fans who paid $ 200 per ticket were allowed to watch

19465-557: The Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls. Unlike the previous trophies, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is issued to each year's champion, who maintains permanent control of it. Lombardi Trophies are made by Tiffany & Co. out of sterling silver and are worth anywhere from US$ 25,000 to US$ 300,000. Additionally, each player on the winning team as well as coaches and personnel are awarded Super Bowl rings to commemorate their victory. The winning team chooses

19694-887: The Hedgehog 2 , Winning Time , The Adam Project , Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , Moon Knight , Uncharted , the DC Extended Universe 's 2022 film slate, Bel-Air , Joe vs. Carole , and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power . The advertising during the game stood out for a high number of celebrity cameos and advertisements for futuristic technology, particularly for products like electric vehicles , virtual reality and cryptocurrency . There were many cryptocurrency-related ads drawing comparisons to dot-com commercials during Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, leading some to refer to

19923-538: The NFC Championship game a few days later on January 23 to Green Bay 21–14. In a post-game locker-room speech, Green Bay Packers corner Charles Woodson poked fun at the President's comment saying "The President don't want to come watch us at the Super Bowl, guess what? We'll go see him" (implying that Green Bay would win the Super Bowl and visit the White House as the winning team usually does each year;

20152-628: The NFC receive the George Halas Trophy , named after Chicago Bears founder George Halas , who is also considered one of the co-founders of the NFL. The AFC champions receive the Lamar Hunt Trophy , named after Lamar Hunt , the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs and the principal founder of the American Football League. Players on the winning team also receive a conference championship ring. The NFL recognizes

20381-565: The NFL announced the NFL Source initiative, aimed at increasing the number of minority- and women-owned businesses that work with the league throughout the year. NFL Source will be mandatory for teams that host major events, such as the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft, and their organizing committees, but will be optional for other contracts at the team level. The NFL will partner with the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc to help local businesses across

20610-402: The NFL by January 15 renouncing their remaining college eligibility. Clubs can trade away picks for future draft picks, but cannot trade the rights to players they have selected in previous drafts. Aside from the seven picks each club gets, compensatory draft picks are given to teams that have lost more compensatory free agents than they have gained. These are spread out from rounds 3 to 7, and

20839-525: The NFL cannot hold games on those days until the Friday before the third Saturday in December. While Saturday games late in the season are common, the league rarely holds Friday games, the most recent one being on Christmas Day in 2020. NFL games are rarely scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, and those days have only been used three times since 1948: in 2010, when a Sunday game was rescheduled to Tuesday due to

21068-455: The NFL could ultimately be liable for $ 14.39 billion. The league said it would ask the judge to set the verdict aside then appeal the verdict if needed. From 1920 to 1934, the NFL did not have a set number of games for teams to play, instead setting a minimum. The league mandated a twelve-game regular season for each team beginning in 1935 , later shortening this to eleven games in 1937 and ten games in 1943 , mainly due to World War II. After

21297-513: The NFL occupied the top three rates for a 30-second advertisement: $ 882,079 for Sunday Night Football , $ 562,524 for Monday Night Football , and $ 440,523 for Thursday Night Football . The league, in recent years, has expanded their televised broadcasts to over-the-top streaming services. Since 2022, Amazon holds the exclusive rights to broadcast the Thursday Night Football package. Prior to then, Amazon streamed games from

21526-651: The NFL realigned the conferences and split each into two four-team divisions. The four division champions would meet in the NFL playoffs , a two-round playoff. The NFL also operated the Playoff Bowl (officially the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) from 1960 to 1969. Effectively, a third-place game , pitting the two conference runners-up against each other, the league considers Playoff Bowls to have been exhibitions rather than playoff games. The league discontinued

21755-555: The NFL with 13.5 sacks, while Hawk led the team in combined tackles (111) and intercepted three passes. Three of the Packers starters in the secondary also made the Pro Bowl. Tramon Williams led the team with a career-high 6 interceptions, while adding 326 punt return yards. Other Pro Bowl selections included safety Nick Collins (4 interceptions and 70 combined tackles) and hard hitting 13-year veteran cornerback Charles Woodson , who recorded 92 total tackles and forced five fumbles, while also intercepting two passes. The Packers entered

21984-407: The NFL with the rival American Football League (AFL), the Super Bowl was first held in 1967 to determine a champion between the best teams from the two leagues and has remained as the final game of each NFL season since the merger was completed in 1970. The NFL is the wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue and the sports league with the most valuable teams. The NFL also has

22213-625: The Pittsburgh Steelers), Howie Long (one-time Super Bowl winning defensive end with the then-Los Angeles Raiders), Michael Strahan (one-time Super Bowl winning defensive end with the New York Giants) and Jimmy Johnson (two-time Super Bowl winning head coach with the Dallas Cowboys). They were joined by a variety of other commentators. Five days prior to the game, Immigration and Customs Enforcement , along with

22442-485: The Playoff Bowl in 1970 due to its perception as a game for losers. Following the addition of the former AFL teams into the NFL in 1970 , the NFL split into two conferences with three divisions each. The expanded league, now with twenty-six teams, would also feature an expanded eight-team playoff, the participants being the three division champions from each conference as well as one 'wild card' team (the team with

22671-494: The Rams coaching staff under McVay from 2017 to 2018 and was hired as Cincinnati's head coach after Super Bowl LIII. Whitworth, at age 40, was the first player in a Super Bowl to be older than both head coaches. This was the first Super Bowl in which both starting quarterbacks held career losing records. It was also the second in which both were first overall selections in the NFL Draft , along with Super Bowl 50 . Burrow reached

22900-444: The Rams, marking the second consecutive and second overall Super Bowl with a team playing and winning in its home stadium. The Rams' victory was their second overall, first as a Los Angeles-based team, and first since winning 1999's Super Bowl XXXIV when they were based in St. Louis . Finishing with a 12–5 record, the Rams reached their fifth Super Bowl appearance after acquiring veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford , who had not won

23129-513: The Spanish-language Telemundo broadcast which was the first Spanish-language broadcast to carry the Super Bowl. According to NBC, it was the largest audience in U.S. Spanish-language history. 11.2 million viewers watched via streaming services (including co-viewing from connected devices), nearly doubling the record set by Super Bowl LV the year before which had 5.7 million viewers via streaming. While viewership

23358-474: The Steelers decision as the home team in Super Bowl XL to wear white jerseys. Both the 2005 Steelers and 2010 Packers were number 6 seeded teams when they reached the Super Bowl, forcing them to play all of their postseason games on the road and wearing their respective white jerseys in those games. The retractable roof at Cowboys Stadium was closed for the game. A severe winter storm blanketed

23587-417: The Steelers from scoring on their final drive of the game. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named Super Bowl MVP , completing 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. The broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on Fox averaged about 111 million viewers, breaking the record for the most-watched program in American television history. The game's attendance was 103,219, just short of

23816-490: The Steelers to hang onto the ball until time expired. Mendenhall finished with 121 rushing yards and a touchdown, along with 2 catches for 32 yards. The Packers started off their postseason with a 21–16 win over the number 3 seeded Philadelphia Eagles after Tramon Williams intercepted a pass from Michael Vick in the end zone with less than a minute left to play. Aaron Rodgers threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns while James Starks , who only rushed for 101 yards during

24045-436: The Super Bowl and playoffs were required to be fully vaccinated and have received at least one booster dose of vaccine. The Los Angeles Rams finished the 2021 season with a 12–5 record under fifth-year head coach Sean McVay . This was their fifth Super Bowl appearance, third as a Los Angeles–based team, and second under McVay. The franchise held a 1–3 Super Bowl record prior to the game, winning Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999 as

24274-446: The Super Bowl era and 3 Super Bowl championships), while the Steelers held the most Super Bowl championships with 6. The Packers entered their fifth Super Bowl in team history, and became the first 6-seed team in the NFC to compete in the Super Bowl, after posting a 10–6 regular season record. The Steelers finished the regular season with a 12–4 record, and advanced to an, at the time, league-tying 8th Super Bowl appearance. Super Bowl XLV

24503-403: The Super Bowl faster than any previous quarterback taken first overall by doing so in his second season. Country singer Mickey Guyton performed " The Star-Spangled Banner ", making her the first black female country singer to perform the national anthem at the game. She was backed by several background singers and a pianist. Jhené Aiko , accompanied by harpist Gracie Sprout, performed " America

24732-579: The Super Bowl festivities prior to the game and those who attended the Super Bowl received a free KN95 mask . Per Los Angeles County public health orders, those attending the game were required to show proof of vaccination , a negative PCR test that was taken within 48 hours, or a negative antigen test that was taken within 24 hours. The proof of vaccination requirement had been implemented for large outdoor events in Los Angeles County since October 2021. Those requesting media accreditation for

24961-415: The Super Bowl in metal folding chairs without a view of the stadium's giant video replay board. The NFL at first offered $ 2,400 to fans who did not receive a replacement seat, but later offered tickets to a future Super Bowl with airfare and hotels included. Not all of the fans accepted the NFL's settlement offer, so the case went to trial. The outcome of the lawsuit was a finding for the plaintiffs against

25190-407: The Super Bowl never having trailed by more than 7 points at any point during the season—a feat that had never been accomplished during a complete season in the Super Bowl era. The last team to complete a season with this distinction was the Detroit Lions in 1962 . In the Super Bowl game itself, the Packers never trailed. Of note, this was Green Bay's first Super Bowl against an AFC team that

25419-614: The Super Bowl record 103,985 set in Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California . The halftime show featured the American hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas , with additional performances by Usher and Slash . Prior to Super Bowl LV , it was the last time that a wild-card team made or won the Super Bowl. This is also the most recent time either of the teams have made the Super Bowl, despite appearing in

25648-508: The Top 50 most valuable sports teams in the world; and 16 of the NFL's owners are listed on the Forbes 400 , the most of any sports league or organization. At the corporate level, the National Football League considers itself a trade association made up of and financed by its 32 member teams. Up until 2015, the league was an unincorporated nonprofit 501(c)(6) association. Section 501(c)(6) of

25877-666: The USAF Air Combat Command demonstration teams with an A-10 Thunderbolt II , an F-16 Fighting Falcon , an F-22 Raptor , and an F-35 Lightning II as well as a P-51 Mustang representing the Air Force Heritage Flight. Former tennis player Billie Jean King then participated in the coin toss ceremony, honoring the 50th anniversary of Title IX , the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs. Dwayne Johnson introduced both teams using his persona as The Rock from

26106-516: The United States and 69% of all potential viewers in the United States. NFL regular season games accounted for 31 out of the top 32 most-watched programs in the fall season and an NFL game ranked as the most-watched television show in all 17 weeks of the regular season. At the local level, NFL games were the highest-ranked shows in NFL markets 92% of the time. Super Bowls account for the 22 most-watched programs (based on total audience) in US history, including

26335-476: The Vikings were able to use theirs. Selected players are only allowed to negotiate contracts with the team that picked them, but if they choose not to sign they become eligible for the next year's draft. Under the current collective bargaining contract, all contracts to drafted players must be four-year deals with a club option for a fifth. Contracts themselves are limited to a certain amount of money, depending on

26564-412: The Year , his receiving yards and receptions were both the second-most in a season. Kupp was joined by wide receiver Van Jefferson , who had 802 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns, and tight end Tyler Higbee , who had 560 receiving yards. Beckham added 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, helping fill the absence of the injured Robert Woods . The team's leading rusher at 845 yards was running back Sony Michel , who

26793-947: The Year Award , which recognizes a player's off-field work in addition to his on-field performance. The NFL Coach of the Year award is the highest coaching award. The NFL also gives out weekly awards such as the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week and the Pepsi MAX NFL Rookie of the Week awards. In the United States, the National Football League is televised on eight networks across seven media partners: ESPN / ABC , CBS , Fox , NBC , Prime Video , Netflix , and NFL Network . The league offers its media rights in packages of games to prospective media partners. The packages can vary depending on conference, broadcast time slot, or both. CBS televises afternoon games from

27022-451: The ball 75 yards in 14 plays, with Burrow completing 5/5 passes for 38 yards while Joe Mixon rushed 6 times for 26 yards. On the last play, Mixon took a pitch from Burrow and then passed to Tee Higgins with a halfback pass for a 6-yard-touchdown. Another touchback followed and the Rams began their drive with a pair of plays totaling 19 yards, which got them to their own 44-yard-line. After a knee injury to Beckham Jr., which sidelined him for

27251-499: The ball for a first down, but Donald wrapped Burrow up before he could make the throw. Burrow still managed to attempt a desperation pass to Perine as he was being taken down, but the ball fell short, causing a turnover on downs and enabling Los Angeles to run out the rest of the clock with a quarterback kneel. Kupp was named the Super Bowl MVP , with eight receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns, including three receptions and

27480-406: The beginning of his tenure to 17 million by the end of his tenure, and 400 million global viewers watched 1989's Super Bowl XXIII . The NFL established NFL Properties in 1963. The league's licensing wing, NFL Properties, earns the league billions of dollars annually; Rozelle's tenure also marked the creation of NFL Charities and a national partnership with United Way . Paul Tagliabue

27709-410: The best overall record, with tiebreakers in the event of two or more teams having the same record). These teams are seeded according to overall record and tiebreakers, with the division champions always ranking higher than the wild card teams. The top team (seeded one) from each conference are awarded a bye week, while the remaining six teams (seeded 2–7) from each conference compete in the first round of

27938-492: The best win percentage that did not win its division) from each conference. In 1978, the league added a second wild card team from each conference, bringing the total number of playoff teams to ten, and a further two wild card teams were added in 1990 to bring the total to twelve. When the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002 , the league realigned, changing the division structure from three divisions in each conference to four divisions in each conference. As each division champion gets

28167-417: The broadcasts on ESPN or ABC. ESPN also holds exclusive rights to stream one Sunday morning international game on ESPN+. Beginning in 2024, Netflix holds the global streaming rights for at least one Christmas Day game every season as part of a three-year deal. The Super Bowl television rights are rotated on a four-year basis between CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN/ABC. The NFL's most recent contract negotiation for

28396-474: The chance to watch the game on monitors in the North Field Club behind the Steelers bench, but would still get the triple refund. Some of these fans were still upset, since they had spent thousands on airfare and hotels. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that when the league decided to relocate the 850 fans, it lost any shot of setting the attendance record. The NFL subsequently offered affected fans

28625-414: The commissioner, secretary, and treasurer. Each conference has one defined officer, the president, which is essentially an honorary position with few powers and mostly ceremonial duties, including awarding the conference championship trophy. The commissioner is elected by the affirmative vote of two-thirds or eighteen (whichever is greater) of the members of the league, while the president of each conference

28854-462: The company that makes the rings; each ring design varies, with the NFL mandating certain ring specifications (which have a degree of room for deviation), in addition to requiring the Super Bowl logo be on at least one side of the ring. The losing team are also awarded rings, which must be no more than half as valuable as the winners' rings, but those are almost never worn. The conference champions receive trophies for their achievement. The champions of

29083-463: The country obtain the certifications necessary to do business with the league in furtherance of its efforts to increase partnerships with certified and underrepresented businesses that are 51% owned and operated or led by a veteran, woman, minority, person with disabilities or LGBTQ+. In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers, alleging that the NFL, its member teams, its broadcast partners, and DirecTV engaged in

29312-599: The current league champion, the league issued a smaller replica trophy to each champion, who would maintain permanent control over it. The current location of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, long thought to be lost, is believed to be possessed by the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame . The current trophy of the NFL is the Vince Lombardi Trophy . The Super Bowl trophy was officially renamed in 1970 after Vince Lombardi , who as head coach led

29541-416: The end zone scoring a 75-yard touchdown. Replays showed Higgins grabbing Ramsey's facemask before the catch, but no penalty flag was thrown and the touchdown stood, giving the Bengals a 17–13 lead. Things got worse for the Rams, as Stafford threw a pass that bounced off the hand of receiver Ben Skowronek and was intercepted at the Rams' 32-yard-line by Chidobe Awuzie . Cincinnati was able to capitalize with

29770-407: The exact draft pick the player was selected with. Players who were draft eligible but not picked in the draft are free to sign with any club. The NFL operates several other drafts in addition to the NFL draft. The league holds a supplemental draft annually. Clubs submit emails to the league stating the player they wish to select and the round they will do so, and the team with the highest bid wins

29999-518: The exception of the non-profit Green Bay Packers , is subject to tax because they make a profit. In 2015, the NFL gave up its tax-exempt status following public criticism; in a letter to the club owners, Commissioner Roger Goodell labeled it a "distraction", saying "the effects of the tax-exempt status of the league office have been mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years… Every dollar of income generated through television rights fees, licensing agreements, sponsorships, ticket sales, and other means

30228-573: The fifth round. On defense, the Bengals signed free agent defensive end Trey Hendrickson , who was coming off a breakout season with the New Orleans Saints . Defensive tackles Larry Ogunjobi and B. J. Hill were also acquired through free agency and a trade with the New York Giants , respectively. The reunion of Burrow and Chase brought success to the Bengals, whose offense went from 29th in yards (5,116) and points scored (311)

30457-547: The first Sunday in February. This was the second warmest Super Bowl on record with a kickoff temperature of 82 °F (28 °C), behind Super Bowl VII . The Rams became the first NFL team to have their home stadium host both a conference championship game and the Super Bowl in the same season. However, the Rams were the designated visiting team as the home team alternates between the two conferences annually. Nevertheless, they still used their home locker room. The Bengals used

30686-434: The first drive and McPherson converted a 31-yard field goal to send the Bengals to their first Super Bowl since 1988. Cincinnati's 18-point comeback was tied with the 2006 Indianapolis Colts for the largest in a conference championship. This was the first Super Bowl to be played on the second Sunday in February, following the adoption of a 17-game schedule in 2021. From the 2003 to 2020 seasons, all Super Bowls were played on

30915-540: The first time in the Super Bowl in addition to its usual Budweiser and Bud Light advertisements. Hyundai , Mercedes-Benz , Volkswagen and Audi also advertised, as did General Motors , who returned for the first time since their bankruptcy with advertisements for the Chevrolet Cruze , Camaro , Silverado and Volt . Chrysler purchased a 2-minute-long advertisement for its Chrysler 200 featuring Eminem . Advertisements for 15 films were shown during

31144-455: The game and intercepted three passes, one of which was returned 18 yards for a touchdown by B. J. Raji . The other two were made by rookie Sam Shields , who recorded his second interception near his own end zone with 37 seconds left to put the game away. Both teams are known to have sizable fanbases that often travel to away games, largely due to season tickets for home games having decades-long waiting lists. In August 2008, ESPN.com ranked

31373-526: The game as a contingency plan due to an increase of COVID-19 infections in California attributed to the Omicron variant . The stadium last hosted Super Bowl XLV in 2011. However, the NFL later confirmed on January 13 that the game would remain at SoFi Stadium. Attendance at the game was not limited, unlike Super Bowl LV in 2021, which was played with an audience at 37% of the capacity. Fans who went to

31602-421: The game as the "Crypto Bowl". Critics echoed their reception of the halftime show performance said a number of ads prominently referenced media from the 1990s and 2000s, geared to evoke nostalgia among Generation X and Millennial audiences. The Super Bowl Ad Meter survey conducted by USA Today was won by Rocket Mortgage for their ad featuring Anna Kendrick advertising a Barbie toy house while facing

31831-408: The game outside Cowboys Stadium, in the open air, as the weather turned from sleet to sun. Since the Steelers and Packers were two of the six teams that did not have cheerleaders during the 2010 NFL season (the others being the Chicago Bears , Detroit Lions , Cleveland Browns , and New York Giants ), this marked the first Super Bowl without cheerleaders. Packers lineman, Bryan Bulaga , became

32060-425: The game was moved to the week before. Because of this, players from the teams participating in the Super Bowl are exempt from participating in the game. The Pro Bowl is not considered as competitive as a regular-season game because the biggest concern of teams is to avoid injuries to the players. The National Football League has used three different trophies to honor its champion over its existence. The first trophy,

32289-407: The game was unveiled on February 9, 2021, maintaining the standard design used since Super Bowl LI , but introducing sunset-themed designs reflecting the landscape of the host city/nearby area (featuring in this case palm trees ) within the traditional Roman numerals . In early January 2022, it was reported that AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas , was being considered as an alternate site for

32518-503: The game's "golden anniversary", featuring the number "50" in large gold numbering on each side of the trophy rather than below it in Roman numerals. This modified layout, but with Roman numerals, no stadium, and different accent colors or, later, designs within the numerals, has been used for subsequent Super Bowl games. Fox televised the game in the United States, with Joe Buck as the play-by-play announcer and Troy Aikman , himself

32747-521: The game's ratings were up 8% from the previous Super Bowl . In contrast to most previous Super Bowls, no bids were accepted for Super Bowl LVI. The bids for Super Bowl LIII , Super Bowl LIV , and Super Bowl LV were all drawn from the same pool of candidates in a meeting on May 24, 2016. Atlanta , Miami , Los Angeles , and Tampa Bay were the four candidates for the three contests; Atlanta received Super Bowl LIII, Miami received Super Bowl LIV, and Los Angeles (which declined to bid on Super Bowl LIV and

32976-424: The game. According to a police officer standing near the affected area, the seats hadn't been installed in time for the fire marshal to inspect them. The NFL scrambled almost until kickoff to find replacement seats. Eventually, 850 fans in four sections were relocated, while 400 fans in two sections were given a refund equivalent to three times the face value of their ticket. The latter set of fans were later offered

33205-532: The game. Roethlisberger finished with 226 passing yards and two touchdowns, while the defense forced three turnovers and sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco five times, three by James Harrison . Then the Steelers defeated the number 6 seeded New York Jets 24–19 in the AFC Championship Game . The Steelers seemed to be in complete control at first, taking a 24–0 lead in the first half. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez rallied his team back, cutting

33434-494: The grim realities of the modern housing and real estate market. Super Bowl LVI was streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and Peacock Premium . This was the final game under the NFL's deal with Verizon (following the game NFL+ would be required to watch local games beginning in the 2022 season), as the game was also available on the NFL mobile app and the Yahoo! Sports mobile app for free. As part of its partnerships with

33663-473: The group, nearly 50 more potential schedules were developed to try to ensure that the chosen schedule would be the best possible one. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the NFL Playoffs, a 14-team single-elimination tournament, is then held. Seven teams are selected from each conference: the winners of each of the four divisions as well as three wild card teams (the three remaining teams with

33892-486: The higher remaining seed hosting the lower remaining seed. The AFC and NFC champions then compete in the Super Bowl to determine the league champion. The only other postseason event hosted by the NFL is the Pro Bowl , the league's all-star game . Since 2009, the Pro Bowl has been held the week before the Super Bowl ; in previous years, the game was held the week following the Super Bowl, but in an effort to boost ratings,

34121-512: The home locker room of the Los Angeles Chargers , who share the stadium with the Rams. This was the Rams' second Super Bowl in their home market, along with 1979's Super Bowl XIV , which was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California . As the designated home team, the Bengals chose to wear their home black jerseys with white pants. The Rams selected newly unveiled alternate white jerseys with yellow pants. The Bengals were

34350-548: The host market of Dallas–Fort Worth ( KDFW ), the game drew a 53.7 rating. Fox's lead-out program was an episode of Glee titled " The Sue Sylvester Shuffle ". At the conclusion of Glee' s airing, Fox became the first media network in U.S. television history to garner a single-night primetime average of at least 100 million viewers. By September 15, 2010, Fox had sold 90 percent of all available slots; all slots were completely sold out by October. The price of an advertisement began at US$ 3 million. Pepsi-Cola returned after

34579-765: The league during the year). The Massillon Tigers from Massillon, Ohio was also at the September 17 meeting, but did not field a team in 1920. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), remain in the NFL. Although the league did not maintain official standings for its 1920 inaugural season and teams played schedules that included non-league opponents,

34808-478: The league has to account for, among other things, the Major League Baseball postseason and local events that could pose a scheduling conflict with NFL games. During the 2010 season, over 500,000 potential schedules were created by computers, 5,000 of which were considered "playable schedules" and were reviewed by the NFL's scheduling team. After arriving at what they felt was the best schedule out of

35037-408: The league in field goal percentage (94.1). The Cincinnati Bengals finished the season with a 10–7 record under third-year head coach Zac Taylor . This was their third Super Bowl appearance, following 1981's Super Bowl XVI and 1988's Super Bowl XXIII . After losing both, the Bengals saw little success and had not won a playoff game since the 1990 season , which was the longest active drought in

35266-413: The league in interceptions (17). He also set franchise records for single-season pass completions (404) and passing yards (4,886), while tying the passing touchdowns record. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp became the fourth NFL player and first since 2005 to obtain the receiving triple crown by leading the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947), and receiving touchdowns (16). The Offensive Player of

35495-563: The league, Verizon offered " 5G Multi-View" features for attendees at SoFi Stadium. The nationwide radio coverage was carried by Westwood One Sports . Kevin Harlan was the play-by-play commentator with analysis from Kurt Warner . Laura Okmin , and Mike Golic were the sideline reporters for each team, and Gene Steratore served as the rules analyst for the broadcast. Scott Graham served as pregame and postgame host, with Willie McGinest as his co-host. The broadcast of Super Bowl LVI drew

35724-512: The media rights deal was announced on March 18, 2021, to take effect beginning in the 2023 season. The deal renewed previous rights agreements made by the NFL and each of its network partners to air their respective game packages, while awarding Amazon the Thursday Night Football package. ESPN/ABC is set to return to the Super Bowl broadcast rotation and will broadcast the Super Bowl on U.S. television in 2027, 21 years after airing its last Super Bowl, Super Bowl XL . Digital and streaming distribution

35953-410: The message "See you at the White House. Go Packers!" written on the back by Woodson. On August 12, 2011, Woodson's promise came true and the Packers visited the White House and met with President Obama. Their visit was delayed because of the NFL lockout and took place a day before the Packers first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns . President Obama was presented with a Packers jersey with

36182-412: The most solo tackles (62). McPherson, who was named to the 2021 PFWA All-Rookie Team , set the franchise records for the most 50-yard field goals converted in a season (9) and the longest field goal converted (58). The Rams won their Wild Card matchup against the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals in a 34–11 rout, marking the first career postseason win for Stafford. In the Divisional Round, the Rams took

36411-481: The most-sacked quarterback to win a playoff game. McPherson also became the first kicker to convert four field goals in separate rounds of the same postseason. In the AFC Championship Game against the two-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs , Cincinnati fell into a 21–3 deficit during the first half, but rallied to take a 24–21 lead in the fourth quarter. The game went into overtime, in which safety Vonn Bell intercepted Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on

36640-542: The network) and color analyst Boomer Esiason . Univision Radio carried a Spanish language feed for its stations throughout the US. The flagship stations for each team also carried the game with their respective local announcers: In the United Kingdom, BBC Radio 5 Live carried radio coverage with Darren Fletcher and Greg Brady announcing. Sirius XM Satellite Radio carried 14 feeds in ten languages to Sirius subscribers, as well as to XM subscribers with

36869-407: The number 1 and the words Commander-In-Chief on the back. He was also presented with a stock share of the Packers organization, thus making him a part owner of the Packers. When Obama jokingly asked if this meant he could trade Aaron Rodgers to the Bears, Woodson responded that Obama was just "a minority owner". Obama, who is also a Steelers fan and considers the team to be his second-favorite after

37098-438: The number 2 Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game , defeating them 21–14. This time Rodgers had a rougher day than his previous two games, throwing no touchdown passes and being intercepted twice. But he still threw for 244 yards and scored a 1-yard touchdown run, while Starks added 74 rushing yards, including a touchdown run in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Packers' defense knocked Bears quarterback Jay Cutler out of

37327-462: The other network (known as "flexible scheduling"). The only way to legally watch a regionally televised game not being carried on the local network affiliates is to purchase NFL Sunday Ticket, the league's out-of-market sports package , which is available through YouTube TV starting with the 2023 season. The league also provides NFL RedZone , an omnibus telecast that cuts to the most relevant plays in each game, live as they happen. In addition to

37556-495: The other three teams in the division, while one game is held against all the members of a division from the NFC and a division from the AFC as determined by a rotating cycle (three years for the conference the team is in, and four years in the conference they are not in). Two of the other games are intraconference games, determined by the standings of the previous year – for example, if a team finishes first in its division, it will play two other first-place teams in its conference, while

37785-446: The player to negotiate with other clubs but gives his former club the right to match any offer and two first-round draft picks if they decline to match it. Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for

38014-548: The playoffs, the Wild Card round, with the 2-seed competing against the 7-seed, the 3-seed competing against the 6-seed and the 4-seed competing against the 5-seed. The winners of the Wild Card round advance to the Divisional Round, which matches the lower seeded team against the 1-seed and the two remaining teams against each other. The winners of those games then compete in the Conference Championships, with

38243-408: The post AFL-NFL merger (1970s: 1975, 1976, and 1979; 1980s: 1980; 1990s: 1996; 2000s: 2006 and 2009; 2010s: 2011). The Green Bay Packers finished the season with a 10–6 record and became the first sixth-seeded team in the NFC to compete in the Super Bowl. They are only the second sixth-seeded team to reach the Super Bowl, with the only other number 6 seed to accomplish this feat, coincidentally, being

38472-414: The pre-merger NFL teams, and the American Football Conference (AFC), consisting of all of the AFL teams as well as three pre-merger NFL teams. Today, the NFL is the most popular sports league in North America – with much of the league's growth and popularity attributable to former Commissioner Pete Rozelle , who led the league from 1960 to 1989. Overall annual attendance increased from 3 million at

38701-473: The pregame show, the game itself, and the postgame. NFL International provided television coverage for viewers outside of North America, with Bob Papa and Joe Theismann calling the English language feed. The game was shown live on the following channels: Westwood One broadcast Super Bowl XLV across the United States and Canada, with play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan (calling his first Super Bowl for

38930-435: The preseason does not count towards standings, teams generally do not focus on winning games; instead, they are used by coaches to evaluate their teams and by players to show their performance, both to their current team and to other teams if they get cut. The quality of preseason games has been criticized by some fans, who dislike having to pay full price for exhibition games, as well as by some players and coaches, who dislike

39159-469: The previous commissioner, retired. The NFL season format consists of a three-week preseason , an 18-week regular season (each team plays 17 games), and a 14-team single-elimination playoff culminating in the Super Bowl, the league's championship game. The NFL preseason begins with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game , played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton . Each NFL team

39388-469: The previous season to 13th in yards (6,145) and eighth (tied with the Rams) in points scored (460). In his first full season, Burrow led the league in completion percentage (70.4) and yards per attempt (8.9), despite also leading the league in sacks taken (51). He set the season franchise records for passing yards (4,611) and touchdowns (34), along with the franchise record for single-game passing yards (525), and

39617-490: The record for the highest rated Super Bowl in history with a 49.1 national rating and a 73 share. An estimated 162.9 million total viewers watched all or part of the game. The game drew a national household Nielsen rating of 46.0 and a 69 share. It drew a 59.7 local rating in both Milwaukee ( WITI ) and Pittsburgh ( WPGH ), the second-highest local rating for a Super Bowl after the 63.0 that Super Bowl XX drew in Chicago. In

39846-401: The records for the most losses, lowest winning percentage (.294), and longest losing streak (six games) for a defending Super Bowl champion. They were also the first defending Super Bowl champion to miss the playoffs since the 2016 Denver Broncos and first to have a losing record since the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers . National Football League The National Football League ( NFL ) is

40075-563: The regional games, the league also has packages of telecasts, mostly in prime time, that are carried nationwide. NBC broadcasts the primetime Sunday Night Football package, which includes the Thursday NFL Kickoff game that starts the regular season and a primetime Thanksgiving Day game . ESPN is the main broadcaster of the Monday Night Football package with ABC airing select games either exclusively or as

40304-405: The regular season and held a 6–0 record in games with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo . Los Angeles trailed 17–7 entering the fourth quarter, but scored 13 consecutive points to take the lead with under two minutes remaining. The rally was marked by San Francisco committing several miscues, including 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt dropping a potential interception. On the 49ers' final drive, Donald forced

40533-406: The regular season as their respective conference's 4-seed, making this the first Super Bowl without a top-3 seed since seeding was introduced in 1975 . The game had three lead changes and mostly kept within a one-possession margin. Los Angeles led 13–10 at halftime, but the Bengals scored 10 straight points on their first two drives in the third quarter. Trailing 20–16 in the fourth, the Rams scored

40762-461: The rest of the game, a false start penalty backed them up five yards. The drive ended on 3rd-and-14 at the Bengals' 43-yard-line, when Stafford's pass downfield was intercepted by Jessie Bates in the end zone for a touchback. The Bengals got possession at their own 10-yard-line (backed up ten yards as the result of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty). The short drive was unsuccessful, and they punted with 42 seconds remaining. The Rams responded with

40991-456: The rest of the state the club operates in, as well as the area the team operates its training camp in for the duration of the camp). Each NFL member has the exclusive right to host professional football games inside its Home Territory and the exclusive right to advertise, promote, and host events in its Home Marketing Area. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, mostly relating to teams with close proximity to each other: teams that operate in

41220-555: The rights to both events and the network planned to maximize the advertising revenue from both events (as it did for Super Bowl LII prior to the 2018 Olympics). NBC subsequently announced in November 2021 that a block of primetime coverage for the Winter Olympics would air after Super Bowl LVI in lieu of new entertainment programming. This situation was also codified in the NFL's new 11-year media contracts taking effect in

41449-420: The rights to that player. The exact order is determined by a lottery held before the draft, and a successful bid for a player will result in the team forfeiting the rights to its pick in the equivalent round of the next NFL draft. Players are only eligible for the supplemental draft after being granted a petition for special eligibility. The league holds expansion drafts , the most recent happening in 2002 when

41678-500: The risk of injury the games have, while others have felt the preseason is a necessary part of the NFL season. Currently, the 14 opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a predetermined formula: The league runs an 18-week, 272-game regular season. Since 2021, the season has begun the week after Labor Day (the first Monday in September) and concluded the week after New Year. The opening game of

41907-477: The same city (e.g. New York City and Los Angeles) or the same state (e.g. California , Florida , and Texas ) share the rights to the city's Home Territory and the state's Home Marketing Area, respectively. According to Forbes , the Dallas Cowboys , at approximately US$ 8 billion, are the most valuable NFL franchise and the most valuable sports team in the world. 26 of the 32 NFL teams rank among

42136-520: The same package as part of a tri-cast model that saw games aired on broadcast television (initially through CBS and NBC, then later with Fox), cable television (through NFL Network), and digital streaming (through Prime Video). Amazon has also streamed games for free on Twitch since 2018. CBS streams its AFC package games on Paramount+ as a simulcast with its CBS broadcasts. NBC streams Sunday Night Football and select exclusive games on Peacock . ESPN streams its games on ESPN+ in simulcast with

42365-441: The schedule will give half the teams nine games as the home team, while half the teams have only eight home games. To minimize the perceived benefit on competition of having more home games, the extra home game will be rotated between the two conferences each year. This is because playoff berths are allocated at the conference level, so all teams within the conference will have played the same number of home games. The NFL operated in

42594-461: The score 20–16 with 6:02 left in the third quarter. Four consecutive three-and-outs followed, with the Bengals punting with 43 seconds remaining in the quarter and the Rams running a single play, a five-yard Akers rush to the Cincinnati 47-yard-line, before the third quarter came to an end. The Rams punted three plays into the fourth quarter, giving the Bengals the ball at their own 16-yard-line. A 16-yard pass from Burrow to Boyd on second down went for

42823-432: The score to 24–10 going into the fourth quarter. The Jets then drove to the Steelers 2-yard line on a 17-play drive, but the Steelers defense made a key stand, keeping them out of the end zone on four consecutive plays near the goal-line to force a turnover. The Jets subsequently forced a safety and scored a touchdown with just over three minutes left, but Roethlisberger's 14-yard completions to Brown and Heath Miller allowed

43052-549: The season is normally a home game on a Thursday for the league's defending champion. Most NFL games are played on Sundays, with a Monday night game typically held at least once a week and Thursday night games occurring on most weeks as well. NFL games are not normally played on Fridays or Saturdays until late in the regular season, as federal law prohibits professional football leagues from competing with college or high school football. Because high school and college teams typically play games on Friday and Saturday, respectively,

43281-475: The season, rushed for 123 yards in the game. The Packers then went to Atlanta, where the top-seeded 13–3 Atlanta Falcons were waiting. Although the Falcons took advantage of an early turnover and a kick return touchdown to build a 14–7 lead, the Packers quickly buried the Falcons with 35 straight points. By the end of the first half, the Packers held a 28–14 lead, and went on to win comfortably, 48–21. Rodgers

43510-532: The second seed in the AFC and advanced to their 8th Super Bowl, tying the Dallas Cowboys ' record of most Super Bowl appearances. After missing the first four games of the year on suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy (during which the Steelers went 3–1), quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned for his seventh season as the Steelers starting quarterback, finishing the season with 3,200 yards and 17 touchdowns, with just five interceptions, for

43739-507: The sitting president did not attend the game, former president and former Texas governor George W. Bush was present, along with his wife Laura and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice . From June 15, 2010, through February 6, 2011, the 30-mile section of Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth along which Cowboys Stadium is situated had been temporarily designated as the "Tom Landry Super Bowl Highway" in commemoration of Super Bowl XLV. The former Dallas–Fort Worth Turnpike

43968-403: The smaller playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0 and thus won the championship. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933 , to split into two divisions with a championship game to be played between the division champions. The 1934 season also marked the first of twelve seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league . The de facto ban

44197-425: The sponsors that returned after skipping the previous Super Bowl due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Universal Pictures , Paramount Pictures , HBO Max , Netflix , Disney , Sony Pictures , Warner Bros. , Peacock , AMC+ , and Amazon Prime Video promoted their upcoming films and series during the game. These included Jurassic World Dominion , Nope , Ambulance , The Lost City , Sonic

44426-424: The sport safer, mainly through fining or suspending players who break rules. These actions are among many the NFL is taking to reduce concussions and improve player safety. Prior to 2021, the NFL had utilized race-based adjustments of dementia claims in the $ 1 billion settlement of concussion claims, which had been criticized by critics before the NFL decided to end what was called "race-norming". On May 21, 2024,

44655-425: The taking the knee gesture "during rehearsals this week." A list in Rolling Stone by Rob Sheffield praised the performance as an " old-school West Coast rap history lesson" and ranked it as the fourth-best Super Bowl halftime show of all time, behind those by Beyoncé , U2 , and Prince . He wrote that Kendrick Lamar deserved his own full-length performance. Super Bowl LVI was televised by NBC , as part of

44884-453: The team. The safety tandem of Rapp (64 solo tackles, 94 total) and Jordan Fuller (63 solo tackles, 113 total) had the most solo and combined tackles for the Rams, respectively. After an injury in the regular season finale forced Fuller to miss the playoffs, Los Angeles signed six-time Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle out of retirement, who last played for the Rams in 2019. On special teams, placekicker Matt Gay earned Pro Bowl honors after leading

45113-429: The teams' other network radio affiliates instead airing the Westwood One feed. Cowboys Stadium installed 15,000 temporary seats and utilized its standing room to increase its capacity to over 105,000 fans. If the stadium had been filled to capacity (its record for an NFL game is 105,121 spectators), it would have set a record for Super Bowl attendance, breaking the previous record of 103,985 fans for Super Bowl XIV in

45342-431: The third team to make the Super Bowl after having the league's worst record two years earlier, following the 1981 San Francisco 49ers and the 2003 Carolina Panthers . With McVay at age 36 and Taylor at age 38, Super Bowl LVI featured the youngest pair of head coaches in Super Bowl history and was the first to have both under 40. They were the two youngest head coaches in the league during the 2021 season. Taylor served on

45571-400: The trophy was discontinued and its current whereabouts are unknown. A second trophy, the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy , was issued by the NFL from 1934 to 1967. The trophy's namesake, Ed Thorp, was a referee in the league and a friend to many early league owners; upon his death in 1934, the league created the trophy to honor him. In addition to the main trophy, which would be in the possession of

45800-430: The two teams tied as having the best fans in the NFL. ESPN 's own John Clayton , a Pittsburgh native, broke the tie in favor of the Steelers. As the Packers were the designated home team in the annual rotation between AFC and NFC teams, the team elected to wear their green jerseys. Although both teams are known to wear their colored jerseys at home and have rarely worn white at home, the Packers decision contrasted with

46029-406: The war ended, the number of games returned to eleven games in 1946 , and later back to twelve in 1947. The NFL went to a 14-game schedule in 1961 , which it retained until switching to a 16-game schedule in 1978 . In March 2021, the NFL officially adopted a 17-game schedule after gaining the agreement of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Having an odd number of games in

46258-430: The welfare of the League or professional football". The commissioner can, in the event of misconduct by a party associated with the league, suspend individuals, hand down a fine of up to US$ 500,000, cancel contracts with the league, and award or strip teams of draft picks. In extreme cases, the commissioner can offer recommendations to the NFL's executive committee, up to and including the "cancellation or forfeiture" of

46487-425: The winners of the AFC and NFC championship games. The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association ( APFA ) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season . After initially determining champions through end-of-season standings, a playoff system was implemented in 1933 that culminated with the NFL Championship Game until 1966. Following an agreement to merge

46716-480: The youngest player to start in a Super Bowl, at the age of 21 years and 322 days old. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey would have been the youngest player (21 years, 197 days), but he could not play because of a high ankle sprain. During a press conference on January 19, 2011, President Barack Obama (a longtime Chicago Bears fan) said he would attend Super Bowl XLV if Chicago defeated Green Bay , saying "If Chicago wins, I'm going no doubt". Chicago ended up losing

46945-463: Was 18th in yards allowed (5,964) and 17th in points allowed (376). Hendrickson ranked fifth in sacks (14), earning him his first Pro Bowl selection. Rounding out the defensive line, Hill had 5.5 sacks and 50 combined tackles, Ogunjobi had 7 sacks and 49 combined tackles, and defensive end Sam Hubbard had 7.5 sacks and 62 combined tackles. Linebacker Logan Wilson led the team in interceptions (4) and combined tackles (100), while safety Jessie Bates had

47174-547: Was Michaels' eleventh Super Bowl as a broadcaster, tying him with Pat Summerall for the most Super Bowls on television play-by-play. Collinsworth worked his fifth Super Bowl as an analyst, and his fourth since replacing John Madden as lead analyst. This would be the final game at NBC for both Michaels and Tafoya; following the game, Tafoya announced that she would be leaving her position to pursue other interests outside of sports broadcasting, and Amazon Prime Video announced that Michaels would move to Thursday Night Football in

47403-589: Was Pro Bowl receiver Greg Jennings , who caught 76 passes for 1,265 yards and 12 touchdowns, giving him a 16.6 yards per catch average while also ranking him fourth in the NFL in yards and second in touchdown catches. Other reliable targets included receivers James Jones (50 receptions, 676 yards, 5 touchdowns), Donald Driver (51 receptions, 565 yards, 4 touchdowns), and Jordy Nelson (45 receptions, 582 yards, 496 kick return yards). The Packers lost star tight end Jermichael Finley (21 receptions 301 yards, 1 touchdown) to injury in week five who

47632-425: Was acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots after Cam Akers missed most of the regular season with an Achilles tendon injury. Akers returned to the active roster ahead of the playoffs. Running back Darrell Henderson added 688 rushing yards until he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 16. The Rams' offensive line was led by 16-year veteran tackle Andrew Whitworth , who spent his first 11 seasons with

47861-483: Was anchored by Pro Bowl end Brett Keisel . The Steelers also had four excellent linebackers: LaMarr Woodley , James Harrison , James Farrior , and Lawrence Timmons . For the third consecutive year, Woodley and Harrison each recorded at least 10 sacks. Woodley also forced three fumbles and Harrison forced six. Farrior had 109 total tackles and six sacks. Timmons led the team with 135 total tackles, while also recording three sacks and two interceptions. The secondary

48090-402: Was anchored by pro bowl tackle Chad Clifton , an 11-year veteran. The Packers defense ranked second in the league in fewest points allowed per game (15). The line was led by Cullen Jenkins , who recorded seven sacks in just eleven games, and 338-pound defensive tackle B. J. Raji , who had 6.5. The linebackers were led by Pro Bowler Clay Matthews and A. J. Hawk . Matthews ranked fourth in

48319-466: Was converted with a 20-yard completion from Stafford to Cooper Kupp and the Rams got into the red zone on the next play with a 4-yard Henderson rush. Two plays later, the game's first score came by way of a 17-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Odell Beckham Jr. Unable to respond immediately, the Bengals went three-and-out , and Kevin Huber 's punt was downed at the Los Angeles 28-yard-line. The Rams were similarly unproductive on their next drive, as

48548-426: Was declared the champion; the only tiebreaker was that in the event of a tie if two teams played twice in a season, the result of the second game determined the title (the source of the 1921 controversy). This method had been used since the league's creation in 1920, but no situation had been encountered where two teams were tied for first. The league quickly determined that a playoff game between Chicago and Portsmouth

48777-424: Was elected as commissioner to succeed Rozelle; his 17-year tenure, which ended in 2006, was marked by large increases in television contracts and the addition of four expansion teams, as well as the introduction of league initiatives to increase the number of minorities in league and team management roles. The league's current Commissioner, Roger Goodell , has focused on reducing the number of illegal hits and making

49006-732: Was expanded to allow CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC to stream games on their respective over-the-top streaming services. For each of the packages the respective network partners currently hold, ESPN/ABC is paying US$ 2.7 billion a year; CBS, Fox, and NBC are each paying more than US$ 2 billion a year; and Amazon is paying US$ 1 billion a year. The current deal runs through the 2033 season. The league also has deals with Spanish-language broadcasters NBC Universo , Fox Deportes , and ESPN Deportes , which air Spanish language dubs of their respective English-language sister networks' games. The league's contracts do not cover preseason games, which individual teams are free to sell to local stations directly;

49235-519: Was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, bringing up first and goal from the 1. Two plays later, Stafford threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kupp, giving the Rams a 23–20 lead with 1:25 left on the clock. The Bengals got the ball back at their own 25-yard-line and quickly gained 26 yards on a 17-yard pass to Chase and a 9-yard catch by Boyd, respectively. After an incomplete pass, Donald and fellow lineman Greg Gaines tackled Samaje Perine for no gain, bringing up 4th-and-1. The Bengals decided to pass

49464-421: Was in his third year as a starter after taking over for the team's all-time leading passer Brett Favre . Rodgers finished the season completing 65.7% of his passes for 3,922 yards and 28 touchdowns, with only eleven interceptions, giving him his second consecutive season with a triple digit passer rating (101.2). He was also a good rusher, adding 356 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground. His top target

49693-476: Was initially dominated by Green Bay, jumping to a 21–3 lead before Pittsburgh cut it down to 21–10 just before halftime. Then after the teams exchanged touchdowns, the Steelers cut their deficit to 28–25 midway through the fourth quarter with wide receiver Mike Wallace 's 25-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a two-point conversion . But the Packers answered with Mason Crosby 's 23-yard field goal with 2:07 remaining, and then prevented

49922-465: Was led by Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu , who won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award , tying his career-best seven interceptions and returning them for 101 yards and a touchdown. Coach Mike Tomlin , already the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl, became the youngest coach ever to make it to the Super Bowl twice at age 38. The Steelers also continued their streak of reaching the Super Bowl in five different decades, and in every decade since

50151-418: Was named Comeback Player of the Year . Chase was fourth in receiving yards (1,455) and third in receiving touchdowns (13), both of which led the AFC. The Offensive Rookie of the Year , his receiving yards were the most for a rookie in the Super Bowl era and he set the rookie record for receiving yards in a game (266). Complementing Chase was wide receiver Tee Higgins , who obtained 1,081 receiving yards, making

50380-469: Was nearly perfect, completing 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another score on the ground. Jordy Nelson and James Jones both had touchdown catches, while John Kuhn added scores by air and ground and Tramon Williams returned one of his two interceptions 70 yards for a touchdown. The Packers' special teams unit never had to punt the ball, while Mason Crosby contributed two field goals. The Packers next faced their rival ,

50609-426: Was needed to decide the league's champion. The teams were originally scheduled to play the playoff game, officially a regular-season game that would count towards the regular season standings, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, but a combination of heavy snow and extreme cold forced the game to be moved indoors to Chicago Stadium , which did not have a regulation-size football field. Playing with altered rules to accommodate

50838-476: Was not eligible for Super Bowl LIII) was granted Super Bowl LV. On May 18, 2017, authorities announced that the opening of Los Angeles's new stadium, SoFi Stadium, originally scheduled for the start of the 2019 season, had been delayed a year to 2020. As a result, at the league's owners meetings in Chicago on May 23, 2017, the league re-awarded Super Bowl LV to the lone remaining candidate, Tampa Bay, and awarded Super Bowl LVI to Los Angeles. The official logo for

51067-437: Was not one of the "Original 8" American Football League franchises. The Packers had played Kansas City, Oakland, New England, and Denver in their four previous Super Bowl match-ups, defeating the Chiefs, Raiders and Patriots, and losing to the Broncos. The Steelers, like the Packers, predated the AFL's launch, having begun play in 1933 (12 years after the Packers joined the NFL after two years as an independent team), and moved to

51296-543: Was rescinded in 1946 , following public pressure and coinciding with the removal of a similar ban in Major League Baseball . The NFL was always the largest professional football league in the United States; it nevertheless faced numerous rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), on top of various regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these rival leagues;

51525-488: Was the reporter on the field and Miguel Gurwitz led supporting pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage. Alongside NBC's presences in and around SoFi Stadium, Telemundo originated a pre-game show from Plaza México in Lynwood to showcase California's Latino community . NBC charged $ 6.5–$ 7 million for a 30-second commercial at Super Bowl LVI; CBS was paid $ 5.5 million the previous year for Super Bowl ads. Budweiser , Coca-Cola , Hyundai , and Pepsi were among

51754-525: Was the team's leading rusher, gaining 1,273 yards and 13 touchdowns while also catching 23 passes. The line was led by rookie center Maurkice Pouncey , the Steelers only Pro Bowl selection on offense. However, Pouncey was injured in the AFC championship game and would be inactive for Super Bowl XLV. The Steelers had one of the league's top defenses, leading the NFL in sacks (48), and fewest points (14.5) and rushing yards (62.8) allowed per game, while ranking second in fewest total yards (276.8). The line

51983-420: Was their leading receiver at the time. The Packers ground game was crippled by injuries, especially the Week 1 loss of Ryan Grant , who had rushed for over 1,200 yards in each of the last two seasons. In his absence, the team relied prominently on Brandon Jackson , who rushed for 703 yards and caught 43 passes for 342, and fullback John Kuhn , who added 281 yards on the ground. The team's offensive line

52212-592: Was up household ratings were nearly at an all-time low. The game's overall rating of 36.9 was the lowest since Super Bowl III (36.0) and the third-lowest Super Bowl of all time. The Bengals won the coin toss and deferred to the second half; the Rams received the ball at the kickoff. Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson sacked Matthew Stafford , leading to a punt by Los Angeles. The Bengals drove towards midfield, but were stalled on fourth down , when Ernest Jones knocked down Joe Burrow 's pass to Ja'Marr Chase . Los Angeles took over at their own 49-yard-line. A 3rd-and-4

52441-501: Was used during a halftime show at the Super Bowl. Described as a "legends of hip hop" performance, evoking nostalgia and localizing the globally broadcast game to Southern California with Dre's performance, it was the third show in partnership with Jay Z 's Roc Nation . Eminem knelt after his set as a tribute to Colin Kaepernick . A rumor claimed that Eminem had been told by the NFL to stand up rather than kneel. However, an NFL spokesman told The New York Times that officials watched

#395604