The Super Bowl is known as the biggest sporting event in America. It is consistently the most streamed sporting event in the country and tens of thousands attend the event every year. Going to a Super Bowl is something that many people dream of. But why? What is going to the Super Bowl really like?
The celebrations begin before the actual game takes place. Generally a host city will prepare and decorate for the event and in a festive city like New Orleans, these decorations were taken to a different level.
Leandro Dos Santos, a WIS junior and attendee of the Super Bowl was impressed by the widespread nature of the preparations.
“The host city itself is also completely themed to the Super Bowl, and it’s a super cool vibe everywhere you go,” he said.
As the day of the Super Bowl arrives, pre game celebrations begin. Despite much of the focus being on the halftime show, many renown artists make appearances at tailgates prior to the Super Bowl. This year, singers like Post Malone performed for excited fans before the gates opened.
For Dos Santos, these all day festivities are part of what sets the Super Bowl experience apart from just going to a regular game.
“[You] get to experience so much more as parties in the city start as early as 11 am. It’s more of a whole-day experience when you go in person,” he said.
Once the gates open, and the tailgates die down, the game finally begins. The Super Bowl is commonly perceived as a very commercialized and corporate event, with few real fans attending, however, in reality, that’s not entirely true.
“I assumed it would be very corporate, but there were tens of thousands of fans from both Philly and Kansas,” Dos Santos said.
The fans, combined with the magnitude of the game create an incredible atmosphere that is unmatched in American sports. This atmosphere is something that is much easier to experience and enjoy while actually attending the game.
“The fans go crazy and the place gets incredibly loud whenever a team scores and that’s something you can only experience if you’re there,” Dos Santos said.
Every Super Bowl has its own particular storylines, but this year the storylines and importance were only magnified. The Kansas City Chiefs were attempting to win their third consecutive Super Bowl and become the only team ever to achieve a three-peat. This accomplishment would firmly place Patrick Mahomes as arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Eagles had lost the Super Bowl to the Chiefs a couple of years ago and were looking to take revenge and prevent this three-peat.
As this Super Bowl played out, the Philadelphia Eagles got to an early lead and maintained that lead throughout the game. Thus, the Eagles fans controlled the atmosphere and were by far the most prominent fans at the game.
For Dos Santos, being at the stadium provided a certain insight into the reactions of the fans that you couldn’t see from the perspective of the broadcast.
“I’ll never forget hearing Eagles fans singing “Fly, Eagles Fly” over and over again throughout the entire game and watching Chiefs fans leaving in the 3rd quarter as they saw their dreams of the three-peat crumbling,” he said.
Despite all the benefits that come with attending the Super Bowl there are some slight drawbacks because some parts of the event are mainly geared towards satisfying those watching from home. For example, the halftime show is far less enjoyable from the stands than it is watching at home.
“Certain parts of the halftime show are hard to appreciate in person. It’s hard to see many cool parts that the artist wants people to see as they’re set up in a way for the camera to catch,” Dos Santos said.
The Eagles ended up winning by a final score of 40-22, securing their first championship in seven years.
Reflecting on the game, Dos Santos appreciates how much work was put into the production of the event. Having also been to the World Cup Final, there’s a clear difference for him in the amount of production for each event.
“The production of the Super Bowl was better [than the World Cup Final] for me. Since it’s one game, the NFL puts everything into making that one specific game an event. The World Cup is over a month long, so all the best parts are spread over that time,” he said.
Dos Santos specifically noted the element of surprise and uncertainty present when watching the Super Bowl.
“The NFL saves every surprise not related to the game for the Super Bowl. The people they bring, the production of the halftime show, and the celebrations for both teams just make it feel like the Super Bowl has more funding than any individual World Cup game,” he said.
Overall, attending the Super Bowl is a once in a lifetime experience that presents a variety of different activities and will give lasting memories.
“I think no matter who’s playing, you’ll always have fond memories of seeing the Super Bowl if you have the chance to go,” Dos Santos said.
By Benjamin Galbraith
