Here Are 20 Surprising Facts About the Super Bowl

According to SNAC International (a trade association for the snack industry) Super Bowl Sunday is the "Black Friday of the Snack Industry," with more than $615 million spent on snack foods in the week of the game in 2023. During that time, average sales of tortilla chips went up by over 20%, potato chip sales went up 10%, and refrigerated dips rose more than 32%.

With all those salty snacks on the table, Super Bowl fans often turn to beer to wash it all down. According to survey data from Advantage Solutions, beer is the most popular drink to serve at Super Bowl parties, with 68% of people surveyed saying they'll have it on hand. Fintech reported that Americans will spend over $1 billion on beer in the two weeks around the Super Bowl. Sounds like "Dry January" is ending just in time for some sports fans!

The first Super Bowl was held in 1967 in Los Angeles and wasn't even a sold-out event. The average cost for tickets for that first game was only $12, with some tickets as cheap as $6, according to Yahoo! Finance. We doubt fans can even get a bottle of water for $6 these days.

This year's Super Bowl is being held in Las Vegas for the first time, and ticket prices could set records. CBS News reports that the average price for a ticket on Seat Geek is over $12,000, with the cheapest ticket on the site currently going for $9,858. This is 36% higher than last year's Super Bowl, and the location might be a big part of the draw, especially for those who love to bet on the big game.

More from CafeMom: Dad Uses Kids' College Fund To Gamble & Mom Is Furious — Despite His Big Win

Everybody's favorite NFL brother duo, Jason and Travis Kelce, famously competed against each other in last year's Super Bowl. They are the first set of brothers to compete for a Super Bowl ring against each other. We suspect Jason will be on the sidelines this year, watching Travis and the Kansas City Chiefs try for two in a row.

When it comes to US sports, there is no game watched by more people in a given year than the Super Bowl. According to Nielsen ratings, and reported by Vox, the Super Bowl "is the most-watched show on TV, year in and year out. Nothing else can even come close."

Last year, over 115 million viewers watched the big game.

Each year, Wilson Sporting Goods makes each team special balls for the Super Bowl. Each team gets 108 balls: 54 for use during the game and 54 for use during practice. Each ball is made out of cowhide, and it takes one cowhide to make 10 balls.

The Super Bowl halftime show is a big deal (some people might be more interested in hearing Usher sing than seeing the game itself!) but many fans may not realize the big-name performers don't actually get paid for the show. Back in 2016, Joanna Hunter, an NFL representative told Forbes that "We do not pay the artists. We cover expenses and production costs."

That policy has not changed since then, but doesn't seem to prevent the NFL from getting some pretty major stars.

The oldest member of a Super Bowl team was backup quarterback Steve Deberg in Super Bowl XXXIII. He was 45 years old at the time and didn't actually get any playing time during the game. The oldest player to win a Super Bowl was none other than Tom Brady, who was 43 years old when he competed in Super Bowl LV.

On the flip side of the age coin, Jamal Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens was only 21 years old when he played in Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. The Ravens beat the New York Giants, making Lewis also the youngest player to win a Super Bowl ring.

The winning Super Bowl team not only gets bragging rights and a lot of glory but also some GIANT rings. According to Yahoo! Finance, each team gets around 150 rings for players and staff, with each ring costing thousands of dollars. The winning team will likely spend more than $5 million on rings.

In 2021, Sarah Thomas broke a massive glass ceiling in sports, becoming the first woman to referee a Super Bowl. This was another first for Thomas, who was also the first woman to become a full-time NFL referee in 2015. She is still an active referee in the league.

Getting a chance to host a Super Bowl is a big deal for any city. Super Bowls bring in tons of tourists and can be a boost to the local economy. No city knows that more than Miami, which has hosted more Super Bowls than any other city, with 11 in total.

Every year, one player is crowned as the Most Valuable Player, or MVP, of the game. In all but one Super Bowl, the MVP has been a player from the winning team. In Super Bowl V, played in 1971, linebacker Chuck Howley was named MVP, despite being on the losing team.

Super Bowl Sunday is a bad time to be a vegan. In addition to all the pizza that gets eaten, people seriously chow down on chicken wings. The experts at the National Chicken Council report that more than 1 billion chicken wings get eaten on Super Bowl Sunday, both in restaurants and at home. Hope there is enough ranch dressing to go around.

Although neither team made it to the big game this year, both the Pittsburg Steelers and New England Patriots hold bragging rights for the most Super Bowl wins in history. Each team has won six times, though the Patriots win for the most appearances in the game, having gone to 11 Super Bowls.

The Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills share the same sad distinction for appearing in the most Super Bowls without ever actually winning a Super Bowl. Both teams have made it to the big game four times but still don't have a championship ring to show for it.

The Detroit Lions game heartbreakingly close to making it to the 2024 Super Bowl. They lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game and, if they had won, they would have gone to their first Super Bowl.

Detroit is one of four teams that has never made it to the Super Bowl. They are joined by the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars in that bummer of a category.

Super Bowl commercials are almost as iconic as the game itself. With huge audiences, the cost for 30 seconds of commercial airtime was a whopping $7 million in 2023, according to Front Office Sports. It could be even higher this year.

Since the first game in 1967, the Super Bowl has never been cancelled, even during times of war and the pandemic. Given that it is frequently played in warm weather locations, it's also never been snowed out or delayed due to weather.