9 Things You Might Not Know About The Super Bowl

You may be a student of the game but here are 9 things you might not know about the Super Bowl.

1. Empty Seats At First Super Bowl

The first Super Bowl was played in 1967 with the Green Bay Packers beating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. Yes, you probably knew that but did you know there were 32,000 empty seats at the first Super Bowl? How could that be? Tickets for the first big game were $12 and at the time fans thought that was too much to pay to see the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Now fans pay more than $4,000 per ticket and those are the cheap seats.

2. Toy Leads To Naming Super Bowl

Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt thought the "AFL-NFL World Championship Game" was a bit of a mouthful and wanted to find a better name that would be more marketable. Lamar's son had a toy that was called "Super Ball" and when he saw it, the name clicked and would then be known as the "Super Bowl."

3. How Many Footballs Used In Super Bowl

Have you ever wondered how many footballs are used in a Super Bowl? I was surprised to find out the number is 120. You might have known that after deflate-gate (Tom Brady football scandal). 54 balls come from each team that gets inspected which makes a total of 108 game balls. 12 balls are used for kicking plays only. Regardless, that's a lot of balls.

4. Coin Used For Coin Toss

When the referee flips the coin with the team captains at the beginning of the game, the ref doesn't use a quarter, fifty-cent piece, or a silver dollar. There is a special coin that is minted for each Super Bowl by the Highland Mint. One side has the Vince Lombardi Trophy on it and the two teams' logos on the other. What is crazy about the coin toss is that millions of dollars are wagered each year on the opening coin toss. With online gambling going on in most states, I am sure that number will rise even higher.

5. Super Bowl Food Intake Rivals Thanksgiving

There is only one day of the year that rivals Thanksgiving with the amount of food that Americans take in and that is Super Bowl Sunday. 1.25 billion chicken wings are consumed during the big game and well as nearly 30,000,000 pounds of chips, over 4 million pizzas, and 50 million cases of beer. I would hate to plan a party that large.

I guess my annual bluegill bowl hasn't caught on yet, every year for the past 15 years I cook up some panfish I have caught ice fishing for my annual celebration. Maybe someday my tradition will catch on. Lol.

6. Who's Won And Lost The Most Super Bowls

Most people focus on who the most Super Bowls wins and know it's the New England Patriots and the Pittsburg Steelers with both teams winning 6 games each. The two closest NFL teams are Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers with 5 wins each.

Now, what teams have lost the most Super Bowls? The New England Patriots are tied for most wins and losses. The Patriots are tied with the Denver Broncos for the most losses with each team having 5.

For those paying attention, that means the Patriots have been to the Super Bowl 11 times out of 56 games.

7. How Much Do Players Make During The Super Bowl

I don't know about you, but I have never worked an extra day and earned $150,000 or even $75,000. That is some good overtime if you can get it. Winning players during the 2022 Super Bowl get $150,000 each while losing players earn $75,000 each. So losing players during the Super Bowl in one day make more than the average American worker does in a year.

8. America Is Not The Only Country That Watches The Super Bowl

If you thought only Americans watched the Super Bowl, think again. The game is broadcast around the globe and in 34 languages. The top countries for NFL fans are the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

9. How Much Is A Super Bowl Trophy

The Lombardi Trophy is made of sterling silver and weigh's 7 pounds. Now that's a hunk of silver right there. The trophy costs $50,000 and is master crafted by Tiffany & Co. The process takes 4 months to complete.

The winning team gets to keep the trophy but each player does get a smaller replica they get to keep valued at $1400 each. Would that be called a "Mini-Bardi?"

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I don't claim to know everything about the Super Bowl but have seen most of them. My dad has actually seen every single Super Bowl and through him is where I found my love for football. My dad has a pretty good memory so I may have to run some of these questions by him and see how he does.