It’s the most wonderful time of the year – when the nation bonds over a football game, or let’s be honest, the commercials, food, and halftime performance. Here’s what you need to know about the big game taking place between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Cheifs on Sunday, February 7, 2021, in Tampa, Florida.
- Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan will be singing the national anthem and H.E.R. will sing “America the Beautiful.” Be prepared to be blinded by the lights of The Weeknd as he performs at halftime. Spoiler alert: None of the performers are paid for their appearance at the Super Bowl. MUSIC TO OUR EARS
- Three familiar brands you won’t see paying $5.5 M for a 30 second Super Bowl commercial this year are Coke, Pepsi, and Budweiser. The three big brands join Audi and avocados from Mexico in skipping the big game advertising altogether. Budweiser is reallocating the media investment to raise awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine, in partnership with the Ad Council. Pepsi (Mountain Dew and Frito-Lay) and Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, and their seltzers) will still promote other products but not their iconic brands. As a side note, because of COVID, there will be no viewing parties and people are hungry for something to watch so experts expect this Super Bowl to be one of the biggest viewing audiences in history. THE RIGHT MOVE?
- For the first time in NFL history, it’ll be a home game for one of the teams vying for the championship title. The Bucs were awarded the Super Bowl back in 2017 when NFL owners voted to move the Super Bowl to Tampa Bay from Los Angeles. (L.A. will host the 2022 Super Bowl). WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?
- Let’s talk quarterbacks. There’s quite the age difference between the two starting quarterbacks – Tom Brady, who is the oldest quarterback in the league, and Patrick Mahomes, who is one of the youngest. Mahomes was six-years-old when Brady played in his first Super Bowl. In fact, Brady is 7 years younger than Mahomes’ professional baseball player father. THAT STINGS A BIT
- You don’t have to know diddly squat about football to place a bet on Sunday’s game, thanks to prop bets. You can bet on anything from which song will be the first song of The Weeknd’s halftime performance, to the winner of the coin toss, or will the Church-Sullivan rendition of the anthem be under two minutes? YOU CAN BET ON IT
- Referee Sarah Thomas will be the first woman to ever officiate at the Super Bowl. Including her appearance at the Super Bowl, Thomas holds three different historic moments for women in the NFL. JUST THE BEGINNING
- Attendance at the game will be limited to 22,000 people, about a third of the more than 65,000+ capacity of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Of that 7,500 will be vaccinated health care workers who received free tickets. THANK YOU!
- At age 43, Tom Brady is playing for his seventh Super Bowl ring in his 10th Super Bowl. The 25-year-old QB from the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes will be the first QB in NFL history to start two Super Bowls at the age of 25 or younger. If he wins, he’ll be the first QB to win two Super Bowls at the age of 25 or younger. YOUTH VS. EXPERIENCE
- Tom Brady (and likely his agent) believed in his abilities when they drafted up his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So far this postseason, Brady has earned over $1.25 M in incentives per his contract. He made $500,000 alone for making it to the Super Bowl. #WINNING
Want something delectable to serve at your COVID-friendly get together for the game? Check out our Tailgate Treats for inspiration. Cooking skills not necessary.
About the author:
Driven to breakdown the stereotypes, Amy and her brother Scott created Last Night’s Game, which empowers its readers to join the sports conversation, even if they don’t know the first thing about sports. They do that through a triweekly email publication and a weekly podcast.
She Writes Sports 
Leave a Reply