The Super Bowl has come a long way, baby, in its 35 years. From a mildly amusing battle between the old guard NFL and upstart AFL — carried by both CBS, which owned the rights from the NFL, and NBC, the AFL rightsholder — to the most watched television program in the country. This year, more than 700 million people worldwide will tune in. With its growth, the Super Bowl has became big business. One 30-second ad on this year’s CBS telecast will cost more ($2.3 million) than the network paid ($2 million) for the rights to air Super Bowl I. The pre-game shows officially start at 11 a.m. but, in reality, will last all weekend. In a way, the Super Bowl has became both a de facto holiday for the country and so typically American — loud, brash and hyped beyond its worth. Here’s, some Super Bowl trivia to make your conversation around the water cooler today just a bit more interesting.
Tale of the Tape
Super Bowl I Super Bowl XXXV
University of Ariz. & National Anthem Backstreet Boys University of Mich. bands $6 Cheapest ticket $325 $42,000 Cost of 30-sec. ad $2.3 million 338 Media attending 3,000 CBS and NBC Network CBS Pete Rozelle Commissioner Paul Tagliabue 1 p.m. Kickoff 6:21 p.m. 30 mins. Pre-game programming 7 hrs. “Lassie” What’s on after game? “Survivor” 12 mins. Halftime 22 mins. 24 (9 in AFL) Teams vying for title 31 50M U.S. viewers 132.5M (est.) 40.8 TV Rating 43.31 (last year) $20.8 million Annual TV rights fee $2.2 billion $15,000 Winners’ share $58,000
$7,500Losers’ Share $34,500 Rookie Defense Dept. lawyer Paul Tagliabue NFL Commish AFL NFL Rival XFL $40 Game ball will cost ya $120 High-school student Jesse Ventura Gov./XFL TV gig. Can lose car if ticketed No for DWI leaving Super Yes Bowl party? 5 Number of Supe XXXV All, hopefully. players alive at game time? 0 Players with arrest record 16 $12 Super Bowl I ticket $260.55, on eBay. $630 Standard 21″ television $199 10 cents Price of The Post 25 cents 905.11 Dow Jones Close 10,659.98 —