Super Bowl Traditions and Superstitions

The Super Bowl is just a couple days away, and is considered by fans as a “holiday,” and an occasion to gather with family and friends. From the funny 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 lot 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 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. This year’s Super Bowl will be on February 4, 2018 and will be broadcast on NBC.

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 LII.

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. Leslie Odom Jr., will be singing “America the Beautiful” and P!NK will be singing the “National Anthem” this year.

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 Justin Timberlake will be performing for the third time. 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. Doritos, Budweiser, Snickers, Coca Cola, Best buy 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.

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 Gatorade will be 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.

Super Bowl Superstitions are popular with hardcore fans. There are countless sports superstitions. Many will wear the same jersey or socks from the winning season (some without washing,) wearing certain colors or numbers, watching the big game with the same people that brought the team luck throughout the year, sitting in the same chair or the same place on the couch, not shaving before the game, praying (even those that are not religious)…the list goes on with rituals that fans feel they must do to avoid a catastrophe for their team. Another interesting superstition 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- the Patriots or the Eagles? 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?

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