The Super Bowl 2018: a huge spectacle organised at U.S. Bank Stadium

The New England Patriots will face the Philadelphia Eagles in the 52nd edition of the Super Bowl. Read more on one of the biggest sports events in the world and the host venue for this year’s edition: U.S. Bank Stadium.

What is the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl is the last game of the NFL (National Football League) season. The winners from the two football conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) play each other in a game that will determine the champion of the National Football League.

The first ever Super Bowl was played on January 1967 when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to become the first Super Bowl winners.

 NFL Season Format:

The NFL season consists of the following schedule:

  • Preseason: four-weeks exhibition style of games, they do not count for the regular season totals
  • Regular season: a seventeen-week 256-game season. Each team play 16 games. Consist of AFC and NFC league tables, both divided into an East, South, West and North division.
  • Postseason: a twelve-team single elimination tournament consisting of the winners of each of the four divisions from each conference and two wild cards. The AFC and NFC winners then play the final or the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl LII

The 52nd edition of the Super Bowl will see the New England Patriots facing the Philadelphia Eagles. The New England Patriots won 5 of their 9 Super Bowl appearances and are the defending 2016 NFL Champion. The Philadelphia Eagles played the Super Bowl twice before but never won.

 Team value:

The New England Patriots are valued at $ 3.7 billion (€ 2.97 billion) according to Forbes, making it the second highest valued franchise in the NFL only behind The Dallas Cowboys.

The Philadelphia Eagles are valued at $ 2.65 billion (€ 2.13 billion), the 10th most valued team in the NFL.

Super Bowl LII Host Venue

Host of the Super Bowl LII is U.S. Bank Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium and home to the Minnesota Vikings. U.S. Bank Stadium is supposed to resemble a Viking ship and is packed with unique features. The stadium has the largest transparent ethylene-tetraflouroethylene (EFTE) roof in the USA, 60% of the stadium’s fixed roof consists of this co-polymer resin; a plastic-like material that is extremely light-weight, durable and resistant to corrosion. Fans in the stadium can view the sun and sky throughout the year while staying in a climate-controlled environment.

The Stadium features five of the world’s largest hinged doors, ranging from 23 to 29 meters tall. The LED lighting can adjust colour temperatures and turn off and on quickly to allow for a unique viewing experience. The stadium has also the closest seats to the field in the NFL.

U.S. Bank Stadium aims to become a zero-waste facility, where 90% of all waste is either compostable or recyclable. On November 20, 2017, U.S. Bank Stadium was certified LEED Gold (LEED is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design). 

Last year, we could welcome Patrick Talty, General Manager U.S. Bank Stadium to the ESSMA Summit in Lyon. ESSMA Members can consult his presentation, giving more details about the stadium project and venue features at the ESSMA Knowledge Platform (search for U.S. Bank Stadium).

More than a game

The Super Bowl is more than the final between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. Over the years, the Super Bowl has grown to become a renowned brand with lots of sides activities, entertainment, advertisement and sponsorship deals. 

The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched annual sporting events on TV, last year’s final was broadcasted by FOX and had a viewership of 111.3 million. Giving the enormous reach, some of the biggest brands in the world invest millions of dollars to show off their products. The cost for a 30-second advertisement spot during the Super Bowl broadcast reached a record 5 million U.S. dollars in 2017. 

The Super Bowl is known for its halftime show with some of the biggest names having performed last years; Justin Timberlake has the honour for this year’s edition. But entertainment goes much further with the Super Bowl Live, a ten-day festival leading up to the Super Bowl itself (26 January - 4 February). During the festival people can enjoy free live concerts, national broadcast activations, food and more.

Consumer spending (e.g. foods and beverages, game-related merchandise, other apparel, decorations and televisions) during the Super Bowl weekend is estimated to go into the $ billions while the average consumer spending on Super Bowl Sunday is estimated to be almost $ 82 (€ 66) this year.

Statistic: How much do you plan on spending on Super Bowl Sunday? | Statista

The Super Bowl is a huge spectacle with an unmatched viewing reach in the U.S., making it one of the biggest sports events worldwide.