The Chiefs and Buccaneers will take the field on Sunday at Super Bowl LV, and America is hyped to watch it all play out. Most fans already know who they’re rooting for, where they’ll be celebrating, what they’ll be eating, etc. — but even the most die-hard fanatics may not be aware of the following little-known Super Bowl facts, each of which is sure to spice up the conversation during all of those darn commercial breaks.
Both winners and losers get paid
Whether or not your favorite player triumphs, just securing a spot in the Super Bowl is a win for their bank account. According to Athlon Sports, each player on the winning Super Bowl LV team will score $130,000. Losers, meanwhile, will reportedly receive $65,000.
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Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field on January 24, 2021, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
But halftime performers don’t make a dime
Sorry, The Weeknd. No matter how A-list a performer is, headliners are not compensated for performing during the big game.
“We do not pay the artists,” NFL spokesperson Joanna Hunter told Forbes in 2016. “We cover expenses and production costs.”
Fans of recent acts like Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Maroon 5 shouldn’t sweat it, though, as the sheer exposure is worth millions of dollars. Last year, the halftime show drew more viewers than the actual game, per Billboard.
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Americans snack a lot
Super Bowl Sunday is the second-highest day of food consumption in the U.S., behind only Thanksgiving, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
Wings, specifically, seem to be hotter than ever. The National Chicken Council’s annual report speculates that Americans will devour a record 1.42 billion wings on Super Bowl Sunday this year, up 2% from 2020.
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Commercials are crazy expensive
A 30-second spot during Super Bowl LIV went for as high as $5.6 million in 2020, and this year is no different: USA Today reports that CBS is charging between $5.5 million and $5.6 million for half-minute ads during Super Bowl LV.
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs looks for an open receiver in the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Divisional Playoff at Arrowhead Stadium on January 17, 2021, in Kansas City. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
17 million people might skip work the next day
If the thought of facing a work day the morning after the biggest night in football sounds like too much to bear, you’re not alone. In 2018, an estimated 13.9 million Americans called in sick on “Super Sick Monday” and more than 17 million did the same in 2019 and 2020, based on extrapolations of U.S. workforce data.
Future national holiday, anyone?
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Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take place Sunday, Feb. 7. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
