A Brief History
On February 3, 2014, one year ago today, Fox Broadcasting announced that the previous day’s Super Bowl XLVIII (no. 48) had been the most watched television event in U.S. history with 111 million people watching the Seattle Seahawks beat the daylights out of the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the Meadowlands of New Jersey.
Digging Deeper
This game was also significant as it was the first Super Bowl played in cold weather in an open-air stadium.
Although both teams entered the game with a regular season record of 13-3, the game lost much of its competitiveness as the Seahawks continued to dominate, taking a 22-0 lead into halftime and eventually a 36-0 lead. Even without an exciting and game-changing outlook, fans remained glued to the set.
Halftime entertainment was provided by Bruno Mars and also the Red Hot Chili Peppers who were watched by 4 million more viewers than the football game itself!
As has become the standard, the TV ads were also a major attraction, with a 30 second slot going for $4 million. Research indicated that the most popular of all the Super Bowl commercials was Budweiser’s “Puppy Love.” Meanwhile, a Coca-Cola commercial with people singing “America the Beautiful” in various languages angered many (mostly conservative) viewers.
This year’s Superbowl was played in Glendale, Arizona at the University of Phoenix Stadium. We hope you enjoyed the game and the halftime show performed by Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz, with the National Anthem being sung by Blake Shelton.
The game was played between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots with New England coming out on top, 28 to 24.
Question for students (and subscribers): Who are you rooting for in this year’s Super Bowl? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Sandler, Michael. Malcolm Smith and the Seattle Seahawks: Super Bowl XLVIII (Super Bowl Superstars). Bearport Publishing, 2014.
