Feb
05

21 Facts You Need to Know About Super Bowl 50

Friday, February 5, 2016

From Forbes

  1. The basics: Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 ET on February 7. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are calling the game for CBS. It is Nantz’s fourth Super Bowl as play-by-play man and sixth overall. Simms will provide the analysis for the eighth time, second most only to John Madden as an analyst. It will mark the 19th Super Bowl on CBS, the most of any network. The game will feature a host of 5K cameras covering the event and a new replay system that gives viewers a 360-degree perspective.
  2. This is the first Super Bowl at Levi’s® Stadium and the first Super Bowl played in California since 2003. California was a regular stop on the Super Bowl rotation with 11 of the first 37 games played there, but stopped hosting game due to antiquated stadiums and the absence of teams in Los Angeles. Super Bowl XIX in 1985 was held at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.
  3. This year’s game marks the first since the fourth Super Bowl to skip Roman numerals in favor of the Arabic ones in the logo. The NFL didn’t think an “L” alone worked. Roman numbers will return for Super Bowl LI. Super Bowl V was the first to use Roman numerals.
  4. This is the Broncos eighth Super Bowl appearance, which ties the Cowboys, Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers for the most all-time. The Broncos already hold the record for Super Bowl losses with five. The Broncos’ two wins came after the 1997 and 1998 seasons with current Broncos general manager John Elway at quarterback.
  5. The Panthers’ lone Super Bowl appearance before this year occurred after the 2003 season. The Panthers lost 32-29 to the Patriots on a last-second field goal in a game some consider the greatest Super Bowls of all time. The lasting memory for many was the “wardrobe malfunction” with singer Janet Jackson at halftime.
  6. The Super Bowl features the NFL’s top-ranked offense in scoring (Carolina at 31.2 points per game) against the defense that let up the fewest yards in the NFL in Denver (the Broncos ranked fourth in scoring defense). The Broncos ranked 19th for scoring offense, while the Panthers clocked in at sixth for scoring defense.
  7. The biggest storyline of Super Bowl 50 is the quarterback matchup featuring the former face of the NFL in Peyton Manning with the new face of the league in Cam Newton. This is Manning’s fourth Super Bowl appearance with his lone win at Super Bowl XLI. His Super Bowl appearances have come under four different coaches.
  8. Manning is gunning to be first QB to win the Super Bowl starting for two different teams and will be the oldest quarterback to ever start the Super Bowl at 39. The previous oldest was Elway who was 38 in 1999.
  9. Gary Kubiak is the first coach to make a Super Bowl for a team that he also played for. He played nine seasons for the Broncos, serving as Elway’s backup. Kubiak was hired to coach the Broncos in January 2015 after an eight-year run in charge of the Houston Texans where he compiled a 61-64 record. Kubiak is the seventh coach to make the Super Bowl in his first season coaching a team. He won three Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach.
  10. Rivera is trying to be just the four NFL player to also win the Super Bowl as a head coach. He’d join Mike Ditka, Tom Flores and Tony Dungy. Rivera won a Super Bowl for the 1985 season with the Chicago Bears where he spent his nine-year career as a linebacker. Rivera and Kubiak both replaced John Fox as head
  11. You can bet on just about anything with the Super Bowl. Bovada has over 500 team and player prop bets that range from the basic (“MVP” with Newton and Manning the overwhelming favorites at -130 and +275) to the silly (if NBA MVP and noted Panthers fan Stephen Curry is shown on TV what will he be wearing: Cam Newton jersey is the favorite). My personal favorite each year: who will the Super Bowl MVP mention first with God and Team running even.
  12. The prop bets around the quarterbacks reflect the vast differences in between the two. The bets for Newton include: “How Many Times Will Cam Newton Do The Open Shirt Superman Motion During The Game” with the over/under at 2.5. For Manning the question is: “Will Peyton Manning Announce His Retirement In The Post Game Interview.” Vegas thinks those odds are long.
  13. The Panthers and Broncos had two common opponents during the regular season. The Broncos beat Green Bay 29-10 at home and lost 27-24 to Indianapolis on the road. The Panthers swept Green Bay (37-29) and Indy (29-26 in OT) at home.
  14. The Broncos and Panthers were both the top seeds in their conference during the playoffs. It marks just the fourth time in 20 years both top seeds met in the Super Bowl, but it has now happened three straight seasons.
  15. While much of the country was digging out from a snowstorm last week, the early weather forecast for Santa Clara is a high of 70 with 0% chance of rain on gameday.
  16. The Broncos had the right to choose their jersey color as the home team (it alternates each year between the AFC and NFL champ). The Broncos choose their away white jerseys. Elway cited the team’s Super Bowl success (the team is 1-1 in Super Bowls wearing white). Good move avoiding the home orange. The Broncos were 0-4 in Super Bowls and outscored 167-38 in orange (the Broncos are 1-0 in blue). The Panthers will be in their black jerseys.
  17. CBS set 30-second ad rates at $5 million for the game, $400,000 above last year’s record and 12,500% higher than the first Super Bowl. CBS will generate roughly $350 million from ads. Rookie advertisers include LG, Pokemon, Colgate, Henkel ’s Persil ProClean, Bai, Buick, PayPal , SunTrust and SoFi.
  18. The top advertiser over the past 10 years is Anheuser-Busch InBev , which spent $287.3 million on ads, according to Kantar Media. Pepsi is second at $172 million with Coca-Cola KO +0.00%, Chrysler and General Motors GM +0.00% rounding out the top five.
  19. CBS gave Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” the lead-out spot after the game. It is the first time a late-night program airs directly after the Super Bowl. Colbert took over the show in the fall after David Letterman’s retirement. Colbert has brought a younger demo to the show with ratings among adults 18-34 double what Letterman generated.
  20. British rockers Coldplay are the featured act for the halftime show. The band sold more than 80 million copies of their first six albums while garnering seven Grammy Awards. Last month the brand released its seventh album A Head Full Of Dreams. Beyonce and Bruno Mars are expected to join Coldplay on stage for the halftime show, which is sponsored by Pepsi once again.
  21. Most importantly: Who is going to win? Opening odds had the Panthers favored by 4, but early money poured in on Carolina pushing the line to 6. The over/under is 45 1/2.

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