Super Bowl Traditions and Superstitions

Super Bowl 54 is approaching, and is considered by fans as a “holiday,” and an occasion to gather with family and friends. From the creative commercials, amazing half time show and the suspense filled game, the Super Bowl is entertainment at its best!

Did you know that there are a ton of Super Bowl Traditions and Superstitions?

At Atlas Cruises & Tours we’re all about traditions, so we wanted to share some of the most popular ones with you.

Super Bowl Traditions

• Super Bowl Sunday is usually held in late January or early February. From 1967, up until 2002 the Super Bowl had always been held on the last Sunday in January.  Because of the September 11th attacks that occurred the previous year, the Super Bowl was delayed by a week that year and have been in February ever since.

This year’s Super Bowl will be on February 2, 2020 and will be broadcast on FOX. The game will be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fl.

• Roman numerals aren’t just for those in Rome. The tradition of using roman numerals to express what year the Super Bowl is, started in 1971 with the fifth Super Bowl. This system is used because it’s supposed to help eliminate confusion about what Super Bowl it actually is. For the first time since 1971 however, the NFL decided to drop the Roman Numerals for Super Bowl 50 two years ago. This year’s Super Bowl will be LIV, (the 54th Super Bowl.)
  
  
• The pregame show is now a household staple. For some, the pregame show is just as important as the Super Bowl. It wasn’t until 1976 that it was actually broadcast on TV. The first pregame show featured a release of 4,000 pigeons. Nowadays things like celebrities and fighter jets tend to be the stars of the show. Multi-platinum singer/songwriter, Demi Lovato will sing the national anthem.
  

Official kick off is at 6:30 pm EST.  You can expect to see a pre-Super Bowl show that starts 30 minutes before kickoff, which comes at the end of a four-hour Super Bowl pregame show.

• The halftime show & expensive commercials always leave people talking. In addition to the game, many look forward to the commercials and halftime show. This year Jennifer Lopez & Shakira will perform for the Pepsi sponsored event.  Pepsi and the NFL collaborated with Roc Nation to bring these two icons together for the first time ever, for what will be an unforgettable performance on the world’s biggest stage.  The half time show is the most watched musical event of the year. Last year over 116.5 millions viewers saw tuned into the halftime show.

Advertisers are expected to spend over $5 million dollars on a 30 second commercial. To put that in perspective, in Super Bowl I a 30 second ad cost only $40,000. Amazon, Burger King, Doritos, Budweiser, M&M’s, Planters, Sketchers, Walt Disney and Pepsi will all be running commercials.

• Food:  As you can imagine there will be a lot of food both at the game and at the homes of viewers around the world. Large amounts of foods are consumed during the Super Bowl, only second to Thanksgiving. Chicken wings, chips and salsa and pizza top the list as the most consumed foods. Just how much food? Well an estimated 28 million pounds of chips, 1.2 billion chicken wings and more than 48 million pizzas will be served.
• The pouring of the Gatorade! The winning coaches normally get was is fondly referred to as a Gatorade shower.   It is highly contested what year this tradition started. Some claim is was the Chicago Bears pouring gatorade over Mike Ditka back in 1984 after they beat the Vikings in a regular season game. Other claim is was in 1985 when the NY Giants beat the Redskins, also in a regular season game. We do know that Coach Parcells was the first to get a “Gatorade shower,” at a Super Bowl when the Giants won in 1987.
• Bets:  Some will be watching the game just to bet on it. The Super Bowl is typically the most bet on sport each year. Last year an estimated $99 million dollars was bet legally – and who knows how much more was bet illegally.  You can bet on just about anything. From how quickly the first score will be made and what the longest field goal will be, to what color the Gatorade will be that is poured over the winning teams coach.

Even the President gets involved. It is a decades old tradition that the President of the United States calls the Super Bowl winners. The winning team also gets to visit the White House to get a behind the scenes tour. The Super Bowl champions in 1969, the New York Jets, were the first ones to start the tradition of touring the White House after winning the big game.  Whatever it takes to help our team, we are willing to do!

Super Bowl Superstitions

Super Bowl Superstitions are popular with hardcore fans. There are countless sports superstitions.  As rational as we are as people, we do believe that all things must remain constant to get the same results.

Here are some of the most popular superstitions:

1. Wearing their favorite team jersey, t-shirt, benie, cap, pajamas, poncho, underwear, socks, or even blanket (some people won’t even wash them an entire season afraid they will wash away the team’s luck.)  Of course there are various combinations of pajamas, underwear + socks, jersey plus benie, etc….many people use various items to make up their perfect lucky outfit.  If you don’t have a lucky pair of underwear picked out, check out out post on New Years Superstitions to choose that perfect color
2. Wearing certain lucky colors or numbers
3. Wearing a team cap in a certain way…cap forward, cap backwards or some even flip their cap from forwards to backwards depending on if their team is ahead or behind at the time
4. Watching the big game with the same people that brought the team luck throughout the year. For other people watching the game alone is a must so they can concentrate
5. Sitting in the same chair or the same place on the couch, OR watching the game in the same sports bar or restaurant you always go to
6. Sitting in the same position (legs crossed, reclining, or left leg under the right leg for example)
7. Not shaving before the game. Most that follow this won’t shave during the playoffs either.
8. Eating certain foods before or during a game. Others won’t eat at all.
9. Delaying bathroom breaks (not going until half-time so you don’t miss a moment of the game…because of course your team needs you at all times)
10. Praying (even those that are not religious)
11. Not talking during a game or screaming the entire game.
12. Walking away….this is perhaps the most painful and loyal fan of them all.  One that will walk away from watching the Super Bowl if their team is down, because he or she feel they are the cause of the bad luck.

The list goes on with rituals that fans feel they must do to avoid a catastrophe for their team.

Another interesting superstition after the game has been played, has to do with the stock market. It is believed that if a NFC team wins, the market and economy will do better during the year.

So who are you rooting for?  Will you be taking part in any of the superstitions mentioned above like wearing the same unwashed socks from the winning season, or not shaving before the Superbowl? We’d love you to hear from you!

Super Bowl Food Consumption

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