Super Bowl Sunday: An Unofficial Holiday
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- Super Bowl
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On Sunday, February 7, 2016, the Carolina Panthers will meet the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl to determine which team can lay claim to the 2015–16 National Football League (NFL) title and the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy. The game is considered to be the pinnacle of American gridiron football. This year’s Super Bowl contest and celebration is a bit different, however, because it marks the 50th time it has been played since its inception in 1967.
Over the years the game has grown to become the centerpiece of a daylong celebration called “Super Bowl Sunday.” This unofficial national holiday in the United States is filled with festivities, feasting, and pageantry that extends from the stadium and host city to the homes and other places where football fans and their friends and families gather. Long before kickoff takes place in the late afternoon/early evening, football aficionados are treated to hours of programming featuring the glories of past Super Bowls, interviews with past and present NFL greats, and hard-boiled pre-game analysis. Closer to game time and continuing throughout the contest, ticket holders and television viewers alike are shown performances by some of the best-known musical acts as well as a cavalcade of creative television advertisements.