Kansas City Chiefs Wide Receiver Demarcus Robinson jumps on the confetti as he celebrates winning the NFL Super Bowl LIV game against the San Francisco 49ers in in 2020. Photo: Photosport
Seattle Seahawks v New England Patriots
Kick-off: 12:30pm, Monday 9 February
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
Part sport, part spectacle, part national holiday.
Whether they are tuning in for the iconic halftime show, the unforgettable ads, or maybe even some football, one hundred million eyes glued to screens during Super Bowl 60.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy goes on the line in the biggest day of the US sporting calendar.
Here is everything you need to know.
Who, where and when?
The Super Bowl returns to Levi's Stadium for the first time in a decade as the Seattle Seahawks meet the New England Patriots at 12:30pm NZT Monday 9 February. Home of the San Francisco 49ers, the Silicon Valley stadium boasts a capacity of just under 70,000 and is hosting the Super Bowl for only the second time.
The teams
New England Patriots
It's no exaggeration to say that the Patriots experienced a massive and unexpected turnaround this season. After consecutive 4-13 seasons, they finished the regular season with an impressive 14-3 record, earning first place in the AFC East and first division title since 2019.
Both offence and defence were excellent, going undefeated 8-0 on the road and posting their best winning percentage (.824) since their 2016 Super Bowl season.
The Patriots defeated the LA Chargers 16-3 in the Wild Card Round, then the Houston Texans 28-16 in the Divisional Round. In the AFC Championship Game, they pulled out a hard-fought 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos.
That earned their first Super Bowl appearance since the Brady-Belichick era, an ominous sign to everyone that had consigned the perennial powerhouse franchise to history.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks finished with a 14-3 record, good enough for top seed in the NFC and their best regular-season mark in franchise history.
They carried that momentum into the playoffs, securing their first playoff win since 2019 and advancing through to defeat the LA Rams 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game.
The win marked their first Super Bowl appearance since the 2014 season and only the fourth in franchise history. They will be desperate to make up for the last time they made it this far, when they lost in dramatic fashion to the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.
Key players
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has thrown for over 4000 yards and became an MVP candidate. Strategic additions like wide receiver Stefon Diggs elevated the team's playmakers, while rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson also made a major impact, rushing for 911 yards and nine touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, who signed a major free-agent deal, has delivered one of the best seasons of his career. Darnold has also thrown for over 4000 yards and came up clutch in the postseason. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the league in receiving yards with 1,793 and broke the Seahawks single-season receiving record. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Nick Emmanwori's big seasons have helped the Seahwaks defence rank among the league's top units.
Any Kiwis?
There is! Seahawks runningback George Holani was born in Auckland and moved to the US at three-years-old.
Holani is of Tongan heritage and is one of 11 children. His football journey started at the age of eight, before also trying his hand at rugby.
Holani has been with the Seahawks since 2024 after joining as an undrafted free agent.
The 24-year-old is second on the depth chart and should get a few carries on Monday.
Halftime
It's no secret that the halftime show is often more anticipated than the game for the many bandwagon fans.
This year will see the most streamed artist in the world take centre stage, the "King of Latin Trap", rapper, singer, and songwriter, Benito Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny.
The choice has been met with some backlash in conservative circles, who have lashed out with ugly rhetoric against the Puerto Rican, in a similar vein to what Kendrick Lamar dealt with in 2025.
Whether or not you're familiar with his music, expect a spectacle, as the man knows how to hype a crowd.
Fans will also get a dose of nostalgic punk rock courtesy of Green Day, who surged to popularity in the early 2000's with his such as American idiot and Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Trump and Bad Bunny
Just as he inserted himself into the Super Bowl narrative in 2025 due to his feud with Taylor Swift, president Donald Trump has again bogarted headlines with his staunch opposition to Bad Bunny.
To the utter horror of a certain portion of American fans, spurred on by the president, the selection of a an artist who almost exclusively sings Spanish to perform at halftime is a crime against their country, Ironically ignoring the fact that Bad Bunny is a US citizen.
The Puerto Rican has been an outspoken critic of Trump, and the President in turn has boycotted the Superb Bowl.
"I'm anti-them," Trump said. "I think it's a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible."
Bad Bunny hit back at the president and his ICE squad during his Grammy acceptance speech.
"We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans," he said deriding the recent wave of latino deportations.
History
The game came about due to there being two competing football competitions, the American Football League and the National Football League. The first AFL/NFL Championship game was held in 1967 after numerous attempts to make it work throughout the decade but it wasn't officially named the 'Super Bowl' until 1970 when the leagues merged. Each edition became denoted by Roman numerals two years later.
The numbers
By the time the ball is kicked, billions will already have been banked. Tickets are starting at around $6000 NZD for the 'cheap seats', ad slots are selling for more than $12 million for 30 seconds, and Americans are set to spend north of $20 billion on Super Bowl Sunday.
Spare a thought for the poultry, with more than a billion chicken wings to be eaten and washed down with 300 million gallons of beer.
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