The Super Bowl: A Complete History—When Was the First Super Bowl and Who Won?
As we get ready for Super Bowl LVII, let's review the history of the game.
There are two kinds of people: people who live and breathe professional American football and those who watch the Super Bowl solely for the halftime show. (I mean, come on, the famed halftime show has brought us phrases like, "It was a wardrobe malfunction!" and moments like Left Shark ditching Katy Perry's choreography and going rogue!) But no matter which kind of person you are, the history behind one of the biggest sporting events in the country is pretty fascinating.
As Super Bowl LVII approaches, many viewers have a lot of questions about the background of it all: When was the first Super Bowl? Where was it? And of course, who won it?
When was the first Super Bowl?
The first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football is also known as Super Bowl I. The first-ever Super Bowl game took place on January 15, 1967, and kicked off what has now become a yearly phenomenon in American football. Every year since 1967, two teams face off to win the Championship Game.
Related: Super Bowl Trivia
Back in 1967, there were two separate leagues: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). The two leagues were rivals and in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game—which came to be known as the Super Bowl—a team from each league competed for the title.
Things changed in 1969, Super Bowl III. Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in American football and despite it being the third of the Super Bowls, it was the first to mark the actual title, "Super Bowl." On January 12, 1969, the New York Jets (AFL champion) won against the Baltimore Colts (NFL champion), marking the first AFL victory in the Super Bowl.
So, why is this important? Well, it's important for all football fans, even if you don't root for the Jets. That's because the game proved to many that the AFL was just as good as the NFL, the latter of which was highly regarded as the superior league. After the Super Bowl game of 1969, the AFL and the NFL merged into one league becoming the game we know and love today.
Now, there is one league—the NFL—which is divided by conferences within it. These conferences are the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). One team from each conference goes into the Super Bowl, competing for the year's win.
Where was the first Super Bowl?
Now that you've got a better understanding of how it all started, you may be wondering where the first Super Bowl took place. The first Super Bowl game on January 15, 1967, was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The Green Bay Packers—who at the time, were the NFL champion—competed against the Kansas City Chiefs—the AFL champion. The Green Bay Packers were expected to win overwhelmingly.
Related: What Time Does the Super Bowl Start?
Who won the first Super Bowl?
During the first-ever Super Bowl game in 1967, tensions were high between the two leagues. The NFL was widely regarded as the better, more professional league since it was "older," while the AFL wasn't taken as seriously. (It was looked at as a start-up.) Because of this tense relationship between the two leagues, the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs were thought to be massive rivals.
The Green Bay Packers ended up defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, 35 to 10.
The first-ever Super Bowl game was the only Super Bowl to be simulcast in the U.S. by two separate networks—NBC, which reserved the rights to nationally televise AFL games and CBS, which reserved the rights to televise NFL games. Because of these independently acquired rights for the separate leagues, both CBS and NBC were allowed to televise Super Bowl I nationally.
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What and when was the first Super Bowl halftime show?
In recent years, the Super Bowl halftime show—sponsored by Pepsi—has featured some incredible, popular artists. Halftime shows by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, and of course, Beyoncé, will go down in history as iconic shows. And it looks like 2023 will be no different as Rihanna will take the stage during halftime.
But despite its history of over-the-topness, the Super Bowl halftime show came from humble beginnings. During the 1990s, the Super Bowl halftime show really started to change and become more of a part of pop culture. Prior to that, the halftime show often featured marching bands and always had a specific theme.
During Super Bowl I, held in 1967, the halftime show featured performances by the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band & Grambling State University Marching Band, Al Hirt—an American trumpeter and bandleader—and the Anaheim High School Drill Team and Flag Girls.
Carol Channing is known as the first celebrity performer at a Super Bowl halftime show. Channing, a Broadway star known for her role in Hello, Dolly! performed in 1970, Super Bowl VI. However, Channing was not considered the headliner. The Mardi Gras-themed halftime show also featured the Southern University Marching Band and Al Girt again. Then, Channing sang a rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In."
As mentioned above, the '90s was when the Super Bowl halftime show started changing into what we know today. In 1991, the theme was "Small World Tribute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl" and New Kids on the Block performed with Disney characters, Warren Moon, and 2,000 local children from the area of Tampa, Florida. In 1992, Gloria Estefan took the Super Bowl halftime stage, and in 1993, Michael Jackson headlined the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in Pasadena, California.
Since Michael, performers like Diana Ross, ZZ Top, Boys II Men, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Queen Latifah, Stevie Wonder, Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, Aerosmith, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Black-Eyed Peas and Nelly have all taken the Super Bowl halftime stage.
Related: The 10 Best Super Bowl Halftime Shows of All Time
What was the first Super Bowl commercial?
Remember how two major networks televised Super Bowl I back in 1967? Since then, NBC, CBS and Fox have come to an agreement. In 2011, all three networks paid $1 billion each for broadcast rights to the Super Bowl, which means they switch off year to year. The agreement was set for the next nine years, up to 2020. This year, the Super Bowl will be broadcast on Fox in 4K.
Commercials have been a huge part of Super Bowl culture since the start of the Super Bowl back in the late 60s. In 1967, the average cost of a 30-second commercial was $37,500. For a 60-second spot, NBC charged $75,000 and CBS charged $85,000.
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Today, Super Bowl ad space can be priced as high as $4.5 million for 30 seconds.
One of the earliest Super Bowl commercials came from Goodyear in the 1960s. Titled, "When There's No Man Around," the commercial shows a woman whose car tire has gotten a flat. She hugs her coat tight and finds a payphone. "This flat tire needs a man, but when there's no man around, Goodyear should be," the narrator says. The commercial goes on to plug Goodyear's "Double Eagle" tires, a tire with a spare tire conveniently tucked right inside.
One of the most notable early Super Bowl commercials was put on by Master Lock. Premiering in 1974 at Super Bowl VIII, Master Lock debuted "Tough Under a Fire," a commercial in which Master Lock used a gunshot to show off the durability of its padlocks. An actor shoots at the padlock with a shotgun, failing to successfully break the lock. The gun ads became a staple and ran well into the 1980s and 1990s (though took a hiatus in '86 and '87.)
Master Lock used all of its annual advertising budget on their Super Bowl ads.
Related: How Much Does a Super Bowl Ad Cost in 2023?
Did the first Super Bowl sell out?
Nowadays, scoring a ticket to the annual Super Bowl just about costs you an arm and a leg. (Or rather, anywhere from $3,464 to $470,410.) But back in 1967, Super Bowl I had 32,000 empty seats at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Super Bowl I didn't sell out by a long shot with many fans even complaining about prices. (The average ticket price that first year was $12.)
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