Do you know how the Super Bowl came to be called the Super Bowl?
It could have been the AFL-NFL Championship. Or the Trophy Game. Or, simply, The Game.
But, it was the nickname, “Super Bowl,” given to it by Lamar Hunt, Texas oil tycoon and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, that stuck.
In 1970, Hunt, who died in 2006, told the Associated Press about the name’s origins. He said it started at a committee meeting of three owners from each conference set up to work out the details of the first championship game, which was played in 1967 (between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs).
“Every time we mentioned the game itself, we used a different name. The Big Game. The Final Game, The Championship and so forth,” Hunt said.
“Then one day, I just happened to call it the Super Bowl.
“I don’t know how I came up with it. I think it must be related to the ball, which was popular with kids at the time. It was called a Super Ball. It was tightly wound and very live,” he said.
“So, we got Super Bowl from Super Ball. Kinda silly, isn’t it? I’m not proud of it but no one’s come up with anything better,” Hunt said.
It might be silly but it took off like a runaway train. Sports – and headline – writers loved it. So did the public. It started appearing on publicity posters.
And so, Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the rest of the pro-football overlords at the time finally conceded.
“It’s true, we didn’t really like the term Super Bowl,” Jim Kensil, Rozelle’s assistant said in the same 1970 story. “We felt it was a little presumptuous and a bit too Madison-Avenue-ish.”
But, judging from its popularity – Super Bowl Sunday is almost a national holiday – the name was dead on.
If you are lucky enough to have tickets to a Super Bowl, which is now held the first Sunday in February, Paramount Business Jets can arrange a flight into a nearby airport for you.
The city in which the game is played is determined several years before the game is played. Traditionally, a warm-weather city like Miami or New Orleans or Los Angeles or Tampa has been most often chosen. More recently, new domed stadiums are also given preference.
Wherever it is, Paramount Business Jets has you covered.
Here are some other fascinating facts you might be able to amaze your friends with:
- In a break from tradition, Roman numerals, which have been used since Super Bowl V, were discarded for 2016, changing the game from Super Bowl L to Super Bowl 50. The L just looked funny, many said. It was to be a one-year change but that remains to be seen because -- as ESPN’s Keith Olbermann pointed out, pretending to fall asleep before getting all the letters out -- if Roman numerals return, the 2054 game will be called Super Bowl LXXXVIII.
- In the first Super Bowl, a 30-second commercial cost $40,000; in 2015, that same 30 seconds cost $4.5 million.
- The number of TV viewers increases every year. In 2015, 114.4 million tuned in.
- The Vince Lombardi trophy presented to the winning team, made by Tiffany and Co., weighs seven pounds (five of which are sterling silver), is 22 inches tall and costs $25,000.
- Teams that have appeared the most times (eight) are the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. The Steelers have had the most wins (6) and the Denver Broncos the most losses (5).
- The NFL pays for up to 150 Super Bowl rings at $5,000 each. It also pays for up to 150 rings for the losing team but those must cost no more than $2,500 each.
