Super Bowl LIX explained: Eagles, Chiefs, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and more

You must have heard of the Super Bowl, seen bits of its glitz and grandiose. It’s America’s biggest sporting event and the fabric of the nation.

This Sunday it takes place at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and history is on the line, with the Kansas City Chiefs aiming to become the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row. Their opponents, the Philadelphia Eagles, have lost three of their four Super Bowl appearances, with their lone win coming against the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LII to conclude the 2017 season.

But let’s go through what the Super Bowl really is all about, from the Vince Lombardi trophy to the halftime show and must-know terms so you’re well-equipped to watch the 59th edition of this razzle-dazzle of a competition.

So, what is the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl is the culmination of the National Football League season and determines the champions of the sport.

Getting there requires coming through the 18-week regular season and then navigating the playoffs, which are a straight knockout. For those of you who are beginners: The NFL consists of 32 teams split into two conferences — the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) — with four divisions in each (North, South, East and West).

The Super Bowl is the coming together of the AFC champions (the Chiefs) and the NFC champions (the Eagles) after the 14-team playoffs. It’s comparable to the new format of the UEFA Champions League in which the knockout phase follows the league phase.

The Chiefs — who had the AFC’s best regular-season record at 15-2 — inherited the No. 1 seed and had a bye on wild-card weekend to rest and recuperate while 12 teams duked it out in the first round of the playoffs. The eight-team divisional round (four teams from the AFC; likewise from the NFC) saw the Chiefs progress to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game. There, they beat the perpetual postseason nearly men Buffalo Bills to seal their place in the Super Bowl.

In the NFC, Philadelphia posted a 14-3 regular-season record, which earned them the No. 2 seed. They also played at home throughout the postseason thanks to the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions losing against the upstart Washington Commanders in the divisional round. The Eagles beat Washington to seal their place in the final. 

This year, it is taking place in New Orleans for the 11th time — tying Miami’s total for the most ever.

Does everyone in the U.S. watch it?

Just over one in three Americans watch the Super Bowl. According to last year’s viewing figures, there were 123million (average) viewers in the United States, which has a population of 341m.

It will be televised nationally on Fox with legendary quarterback Tom Brady (more on him later) making his Super Bowl debut from the commentary booth. The pre-game show starts five and a half hours before kickoff for an all-day bonanza.

According to Nielsen, another 64.5m viewers watched Super Bowl LVIII from around the world, but the game is not as global as, say, the FIFA World Cup, which in 2022 had an estimated 1.5 billion viewers globally.

Still, the Super Bowl is viewed as extremely fruitful ground commercially. Advertising windows are famously expensive during the game, with a 30-second advert costing $8m.

Going to the event is also an expensive endeavour. Caesars Superdome will host around 76,000 fans and as of Friday tickets were available from £2,148 ($2,663; €2,581) on the resale site StubHub.

Play on the field isn’t the only fascination on the day, though. Bookmakers offer odds for how long the national anthem will play, which colour Gatorade will be poured on the Super Bowl-winning coach (a yearly tradition since Super Bowl XXI), and the half-time show’s first song.

Plenty of VIPs will make the trip, too, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who will become the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl.

When was the first Super Bowl?

The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game was held on Jan. 15, 1967. Played between the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and the American Football League’s Chiefs, the Packers won at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Bart Starr named MVP. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that neither the word ‘Super’, nor ‘Bowl’ have been used. That’s because the first Super Bowl was played on Jan. 12, 1969, between the AFL’s New York Jets and the NFL’s Baltimore Colts. As predicted by quarterback Joe Namath, the Jets shocked the Colts to win. Consequently, both conferences were merged to reshape sporting history. The games are titled in Roman numerals, so Sunday will be Super Bowl LIX (59).

A Kansas City Chiefs helmet, the Vince Lombardi Trophy and a Philadelphia Eagles helmet. (Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

On the line is the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the former Packers head coach who is widely regarded as one of the greatest the game has seen. After winning the first two Super Bowls (retrospectively named, anyhow), the trophy was named after the five-time NFL-winning coach in 1971.

The most successful franchises are the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers who have won six Super Bowls each. Legendary quarterback Brady has seven — six with the Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Who should we be rooting for?

Saquon Barkley in action during the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

This year the Chiefs are aiming for an unprecedented ‘three-peat’ and the game is a repeat of Super Bowl LVII in 2023 when the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 in Glendale, Arizona.

Kansas City won Super Bowl IV but ended its 50-year championship drought by beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. They have since appeared in three more, winning two. The consistency with which they have won over these recent years can only be rivalled by the likes of Manchester City in the Premier League or Real Madrid in the Champions League. If you’re a fan of perpetual winners then the Chiefs are your team.

The Eagles have won one Super Bowl in their history and have a less celebrated trophy cabinet. But they come with more offensive threat, having acquired running back Saquon Barkley from the New York Giants in the summer. He led the league with a franchise-record 2,005 rushing yards (yards running the ball forward) and tallied 13 touchdowns. He will support Eagles quarterback (think creative midfielder and star player if you’re a soccer fan) Jalen Hurts who is looking for retribution after losing to Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVII.

By now, people expect the Chiefs to win when they get to the Super Bowl.

Chiefs quarterback Mahomes seems built for these moments, having a 3-1 winning record in Super Bowls and three Super Bowl MVP awards. His only loss came against Brady, who many consider to be the greatest of all time, and the Buccaneers. Even when Mahomes has lost star power, in wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for example, he has still found a way to win with his assembled roster.

Why is everyone asking whether Taylor Swift will be there?

Spotify’s most-streamed artist in 2024 globally, Taylor Swift, is likely to be in the audience as she is the girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Tight ends are offensive players who are typically less nimble and speedy than wide receivers but usually of a bigger build, which can make them hard to match up with defensively. Kelce has been one of Mahomes’ go-to weapons during their three Super Bowl wins since 2020, and his performances mean he is likely to go down as one of the NFL’s greatest tight ends.

Taylor Swift will be in attendance in New Orleans. (Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)

Are there other players we should keep an eye on?

DeAndre Hopkins was only traded to the Chiefs in October and now the 32-year-old wide receiver, who will likely be Mahomes’ second or third read, is headed to his first Super Bowl. He led the NFL in receiving touchdowns back in 2017 but no achievement matches being a Super Bowl champion. But the Chiefs’ defense is a big reason, even more so in recent years, for their winning prowess.

Kansas’ Chris Jones and Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter are both forces on the defensive line and can be decisive in helping apply pressure to the opposition quarterback.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has taken his team into uncharted territory. He is the only coach to lead the Eagles to two Super Bowls and only the third coach in league history to reach the big game twice in his first four seasons (joining Mike Tomlin and Joe Gibbs). His team enters the game with the No. 1 defense in the NFL.

Terms you need to know

Touchdown and field goal: These are the two main methods of scoring in an NFL game. Six points are awarded for a touchdown with the option to kick for an extra point from 15 yards or attempt a two-point conversion via run or pass.

Down: Teams get four downs (attempts) to move the ball 10 yards to continue their possession up the field. Often if not close to reaching 10 yards and if in their half of the field, they may opt to punt (kick) the ball on fourth down, making the opposition start their possession from further back instead of the location of a failed fourth down attempt.

Sack: Tackling the quarterback while they have possession of the football and are behind their line of defenders (scrimmage).

Fumble: When a player drops the ball. But they have to have had control of it first so maybe they drop it after catching it, or it is ‘poked out’ of their possession and can often happen from the impact of a tackle. If the other team recovers the ball they gain possession.

Interception: If a pass is intercepted or ‘picked off’ it means the team on defense regains possession of the football from wherever the ball is intercepted, unless they also travel further, usually occurring from an errand pass or deflection.

Why is the halftime show a big deal?

Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Prince, Madonna and Coldplay. No, this isn’t some kind of musical hall of fame. These are past Super Bowl halftime performers.

An honor even for the biggest of music artists, the halftime show became the mini-concert it is now after Jackson’s 1993 performance in Pasadena, California. Beforehand, it had largely been collegiate marching bands and patriotic tributes.

Kendrick Lamar, fresh from winning five Grammys last week, will add his name to this illustrious list in New Orleans, to the dismay of Drake fans. One of Lamar’s biggest hits ‘Not Like Us’ is a diss track towards the Canadian rapper. Lamar himself is from Compton, California, and is “one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation, hip-hop or otherwise,” according to his Spotify bio.

Kendrick Lamar enjoyed an award-laden night at the Grammy’s (Arturo Holmes / MG23 / Getty Images)

He will be joined by guest SZA and other artists could join, as is often the case in Super Bowl performances.

It won’t be Lamar’s first appearance at a Super Bowl halftime show as he appeared as a guest during Super Bowl LVI (2022) along with fellow Californians Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Some years, the Super Bowl tries to have a tie between the host city and the performer. For example, Super Bowl LIV at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in 2020 had Shakira and Jennifer Lopez performing, in a nod to the region’s Latin-American influence.

Most importantly, what about the food?

Despite a football game being 60 minutes in length (four 15-minute quarters) compared to a 90-minute soccer game, the frequency of breaks such as timeouts, offense and defense switchovers, penalties and injuries, means an NFL game ends up going on for closer to three to four hours. That means food and drink become an integral part of the game-day experience.

So, while English soccer fans might get a pie with not much filling and an expensive pint of beer inside the stadium at half-time (their one extended break), NFL stadiums have tailgate parties — normally-but-not-exclusively beer and barbecued food-fuelled parties centred around parked vehicles in parking lots before games — and more time in the stadium.

In New Orleans, fans won’t be short of options gastronomic options. According to Eater New Orleans, there will be a vegetarian banh mi, lobster karaage sandwich, five varieties of po’boy, and seafood nachos available at the Superdome.

It will be an opportunity for New Orleans to show off its diverse cuisines. Other suggestions from around the city were put forward by The Athletic’s Larry Holder and Chris Branch and include restaurants that serve a shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake and an infamous collard green melt.

Earlier this week, our staff also ranked the best foods to serve at your Super Bowl party, including Buffalo chicken dip, pizza and chicken wings.

How to watch

Try The Athletic prop sheet, or Super Bowl quiz, to enhance your viewing experience and follow the coverage with our live updates from 5 a.m. ET on Sunday.

In the UK, the Super Bowl is broadcast on free-to-air channel ITV1 and also available on ITVX.

To watch the authentic U.S. broadcast in the UK, you can purchase an NFL League Pass on DAZN for a one-time 99p ($1.22) Super Bowl fee.

The Super Bowl is available worldwide on DAZN, excluding the United States and China.

(Top photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)