From modest beginnings of cheap tickets and empty seats to $4.5mn for a 30-second TV ad, the Super Bowl approaches its golden anniversary entrenched as the undisputed king of US sporting events.
Super Bowl 49 will pit the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday and figures to join 21 previous Super Bowls atop the list of most watched US TV broadcasts.
A far cry from the first Super Bowl clash between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs in 1967, according to Jerry Izenberg of the (New Jersey) Star-Ledger, one of only two reporters to have covered the first ever Super Bowl.
What began as a transition before a merger of the upstart AFL into the established NFL, the Super Bowl caught the public’s fancy when quarterback Joe Namath of the underdog New York Jets of the AFL guaranteed victory over the Baltimore Colts and delivered a 16-7 win following the 1968 season.
By the 1970 campaign, the Super Bowl was just the NFL title game. The Steelers, Browns and Colts joined AFL teams in an American Football Conference to balance with old NFL teams in a National Football Conference, and winners met in the Super Bowl.
The game’s popularity exploded with glamour teams like the unbeaten Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Steelers dominating.
Over time, huge TV ratings led to more creative commercials to win attention and tickle viewers. Halftime shows morphed from marching band entertainment to must-see superstar extravaganzas.
A turning point came in 1992, after a competing network heavily promoted a special football-themed episode of a sitcom against the halftime show and stole substantial ratings.
In 1993, Michael Jackson performed at halftime and the intermission programme has been star-studded since.
Ad revenues continue to climb, thanks to social media.
Twenty years ago, no commercial was ever seen before the game. There were no sneak peeks that are all over the place now.
Now every Super Bowl advertiser is using social media prior to the game and after the game to promote their brand.
Expect the Super Bowl to continue to evolve.
Robert Boland, a professor at New York University’s Sports Management programme, said it “has almost everything that attracts someone who is not a football fan.”
“It’s really becoming a festival for a week. I’m not sure we won’t see parties televised with a number of entertainers and concerts,” said Boland, envisioning a week-long, pay-per-view bonanza in the future.
