Puppy Bowl update: It’s a tie-game
As the first quarter comes to a close, Team Fluff and Team Ruff are tied, 14-14.
Our favorite Super Bowl snacks
The Super Bowl live blogging team at NBC News will be working hard on Sunday. But we will also be snacking (a lot). Here are our favorite Super Bowl food items.
Doha Madani: Nachos. Ever since I was a kid, my older brother and I would have them for the World Series and the Super Bowl. It’s a sporting event staple in my life that I simply could not do without.
Tim Perone: Also nachos.
Daysia Tolentino: I have been looking forward to eating buffalo wings all week. I’m also partial to some chips and queso.
Kaetlyn Liddy: Spinach artichoke dip.
Yana Kasperkevic: I feel like you can’t go wrong with chips and an assortment of dips (including spinach artichoke dip).
Jason Abbruzzese: Buffalo chicken dip.
Rebecca Cohen: Pigs in a blanket or baked mac and cheese.
Joy Burton: Traditional wings. None of that boneless garbage!
Saba Hamedy: All of the above (really, also, anything with cheese).
The Puppy Bowl’s ‘it’ couple is watching
The Super Bowl isn’t the only star-studded event today. “Travis Klawce” and “Taylor Sniffed” are in the VIP suite at today’s Puppy Bowl.
We should have Sniffed’s outfit details soon.
11 pups are available for adoption
Country singer Miranda Lambert will be introducing the available pups throughout the game.
Animal Planet also has a list available on its Puppy Bowl page.
Puppy Bowl ‘rufferee’ has every dog lover’s dream job
Dan Schachner has been the Puppy Bowl “rufferee” for over a decade.
And yes, he is living everyone’s dream.
Read more in our 2022 feature on him here.
It’s Puppy Bowl time
Another fur-ocious match is taking place on the Animal Planet today at 2 p.m. ET.
Team Ruff will face Team Fluff once again in PUPPY BOWL XX.
This year’s Bowl features 131 puppies, 73 shelters and rescues across 36 states and territories, according to Animal Planet.
Usher is headlining the halftime show
The NFL and Apple Music announced in September that Usher, the beloved R&B singer, will take the highly anticipated halftime slot.
Reality star Kim Kardashian was the one who broke the news on social media using the opening of his “Confessions, Pt. II” music video.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, published on Wednesday, the superstar said his halftime show will be a little longer than others.
Usher said he will have 15 minutes onstage, where as most usually get 13.
“I can’t explain why, but it’s a funny thing that I was able to do and craft,” he told EW. “That was a huge strategic thing that happened between me and my agency.”
Expect traffic jams across Las Vegas
Las Vegas residents may be accustomed to tourism, but Sunday’s traffic is projected to be intense in Sin City. Nearly half a million people are expected to head to Vegas this weekend to celebrate the 58th Super Bowl. Allegiant Stadium, where the big game will be played, was also the venue for Swift’s “Eras Tour” last March.
Hours spent in traffic near the stadium reportedly increased by over 100% during her concert, indicating that Vegas drivers will likely be impacted by Super Bowl festivities. To avoid the worst of the congestion, traffic experts recommend steering clear of the roads during projected peak travel hours — before kick off, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. PT, and after the game around 10 p.m. PT.
There was record viewership for the NFC championship game
The San Francisco 49ers earned their Super Bowl berth with a dramatic comeback victory against the Detroit Lions, drawing record viewership.
The NFC championship game drew 56.6 million viewers, breaking records for Fox. The game had the fourth-highest numbers for any non-Super Bowl telecast in network history and the most viewers of any NFC championship game since 2012, up 19% from the Eagles-49ers matchup in the same round last year.
Some people want the day after the Super Bowl to be a holiday
About 41% of people think the day after Super Bowl Sunday should be a national holiday, according to a new survey released by Atera.
The AI-powered IT management platform surveyed 1,500 American workers. The results suggest that even without an official holiday, 41% will opt to work remotely on Monday.
Among remote workers, 27% of those surveyed said they plan to feign illness, while 25% will say they have an “appointment.”
President Biden is skipping a Super Bowl interview
For the second year in a row, President Joe Biden is passing on the opportunity to sit down for a Super Bowl interview that could reach millions of Americans on Sunday — a move his advisers say is part of their larger communication strategy.
Read more on why here.
Super Bowl (Taylor’s Version): See how Swifties are celebrating
Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images; Gina CC
Footballs bedazzled with glitter. Friendship bracelets that spell out Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s names. Swift-themed Bingo. Drinks and snacks inspired by popular Swift songs.
Welcome to Super Bowl Sunday (Taylor’s Version) — a crossover celebration event that’s bringing people with a love for the NFL, Swift, or both together on football’s biggest day.
Swift’s public and viral love story with Kelce, who is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, has captivated fans online who have long been rooting for the singer’s happiness. Now, many are cheering on Kelce too.
Read more here.
Brrrrrr… by Las Vegas standards, at least
The “fully enclosed and climate-controlled” Allegiant Stadium will provide a perfect setting for players and fans in attendance — but Las Vegas visitors these past few days have been bundled up in relatively cold temps.
The high never got above 56 degrees Fahrenheit this past week, and the high isn’t expected to get past 51 on Sunday.
That might sound downright balmy for much of America, though the past three Feb. 11s in Las Vegas registered at 63, 80 and 70, respectively.
Chiefs and 49ers players aren’t allowed to gamble while in Vegas
It’s Sin City, baby, but the players getting ready to hit the field Sunday afternoon can’t partake until the play clock runs out.
The NFL has forbidden anyone who is in Las Vegas on official Super Bowl business from doing any kind of gambling, NBC Sports reported. Yes, that even includes the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers players.
As soon as the game is over Sunday night, though, the players are free to hit the slots and poker tables, as long as they refrain from placing any bets on the NFL, of course.
Meet the 49ers cheerleaders who juggle careers
Cheerleaders for the San Francisco 49ers are on the field for every game, but they also juggle careers when they put their pompoms away. NBC’s Kaylee Hartung reports for “Today.”
Trump weighs in on Taylor, Biden criticizes ‘shrinkflation’
Former President Donald Trump seems concerned enough about the possibility of a Taylor Swift endorsement of President Joe Biden that he weighed in on the matter on Truth Social today, claiming “Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor” and probably never will and claiming to like Travis Kelce “even though he may be a liberal.”
On the official POTUS Instagram account, Biden’s team posted a reel decrying so-called “shrinkflation” — the idea that products are shrinking but the price is staying the same. As an ice cream lover, the president says, its unacceptable that companies are shrinking cartons and hoping you won’t notice.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris (a former California senator) is showing off her 49ers pride on social media.
“Game day ready” the VP’s account wrote on X. The post featured video of Harris showing off a denim jacket that reads “Faithful to the Bay” on the back.
Super Bowl ticket prices hit record levels
Super Bowl ticket prices on the resale market are hitting record highs ahead of Sunday’s game, as if Allegiant Stadium hopefuls are trying to see the “Eras Tour” again, or at least the star of that show.
As of Monday, the average price of a Super Bowl ticket on TickPick was $9,815, according to The Associated Press. By Wednesday evening, tickets on the platform ranged from $7,830 to $77,760.
By comparison, tickets on TickPick for last year’s Super Bowl, which also featured the Kansas City Chiefs, were going for $5,795 on average, the AP reported.
Super Bowl gambling by the numbers
It is estimated that 67.8 million people will place a bet on the Super Bowl at a legal outlet, and $1.5 billion is expected to be bet with legal outlets.
Currently, 38 states (and Washington, D.C.) offer legal sports betting in some format. There are 26 states that allow online sports betting via either smartphone apps or websites.
And so far, public bettors are favoring the Chiefs, with 74% taking them to win the game, according to sportsbook DraftKings.
Can the Chiefs take back-to-back Super Bowls? Can the Niners tie the Patriots and Steelers?
The Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl champs, could go two in a row if they beat the San Francisco 49ers.
The Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles last year. If they win today, it will be the first time in almost 20 years that a team has won back-to-back Super Bowls.
The New England Patriots are the last NFL team to achieve that feat, beating the Carolina Panthers in 2004 and the Eagles in 2005.
Should the Chiefs win, it would mark their third championship within a five-year span, a record matched only by four of the league’s most storied dynasties: the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, the 1990s Dallas Cowboys, the 2000s Patriots and the 2010s Patriots.
For the 49ers it would be a sixth title, tying them with the Steelers and the Patriots for most ever.
2020 deja vu
2024 is shaping up to be the year of the 2020 rematch.
In the race for the presidency, it’s looking increasingly likely that voters will choose between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, just like they did the last time the Niners and Chiefs met in the Super Bowl.
In 2020, the Chiefs staged a furious fourth-quarter comeback, scoring 21 points and defeating the 49ers 31-20.
Another Chiefs win, particularly with the right-wing conspiracies floating around Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship, could be seen as a good omen for Biden later in the fall. A 49ers win may be seen as a sign of change — for Trump.
Watch: What were the Chiefs and 49ers up to this weekend?
Stars of both teams stepped out for Super Bowl opening night.
Post Malone, Reba McEntire and Andra Day to perform pregame
Country superstar Reba McEntire will help kick off the game by performing the national anthem, which “Coda” star Daniel Durant will perform in ASL.
Singer Andra Day will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is often referred to as the “Black national anthem.” Actor and choreographer Shaheem Sanchez will sign it.
Rapper Post Malone will sing “America the Beautiful” ahead of the game. It will be performed in ASL by actor, model and dancer Anjel Piñero.
Will Taylor Swift make it from Tokyo to support Travis Kelce?
Taylor Swift would have to shake off a handful of ground-level challenges to attend the Super Bowl after her concert in Japan the night before — but she could do so in time-reversing style, with hours to spare.
The answer is yes, thanks to time zones that put Tokyo 17 hours ahead of Las Vegas.
As of Saturday afternoon, online sleuths and early news reports suggested she had landed in LAX, a mere hours away from Vegas by car and even closer by jet.
Read more here.
Even the Japanese Embassy weighed in on Swift’s potential journey.
“Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, the Embassy can confidently Speak Now to say that if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins.”
Football fans across the country were celebrating after they were surprised with tickets to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. NBC News’ Kate Snow has more on these moments of joy and celebration.
Uber Eats to delete Super Bowl ad’s peanut-allergy bit after angry backlash
This Super Bowl Sunday, don’t forget Uber Eats — but also, as the food-delivery service has learned, don’t forget that trying to make light of a life-threatening allergy is bad PR.
Uber Eats, a division of the ride-sharing company, on Feb. 6 debuted its 60-second 2024 Super Bowl commercial, centered on the running joke of forgetfulness. The spot, which marks Uber Eats’ fourth year in the Super Bowl, features David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston (who forgets she worked with him on “Friends” for 10 years); David and Victoria Beckham (who fail to remember the Spice Girls), as well as Jelly Roll trying to scrub tattoos off his face and Usher blanking on the fact that he just performed the halftime show.
But one scene was decidedly unfunny for many: A man eating a spoonful of peanut butter from a jar — who has broken out in hives and whose left eye has swollen shut in an allergic reaction — glances down at the food label and remarks, “There’s peanuts in peanut butter? Oh, it’s the primary ingredient.”
What time does the game start?
Kick off is at 6:30 p.m. ET, so you better have your snacks ready by then.
Where is the game happening?
The game is taking place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas … aka Sin City, baby!
Officials expect the Super Bowl to draw more than 330,000 visitors to the city and generate $600 million in revenue, according to The Associated Press.
In classic Vegas fashion, the AP reported that both teams were welcomed to the city by Elvis Presley impersonators and showgirls.
Who is playing?
The Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl champ, will play the San Francisco 49ers.
The two faced each other at the Super Bowl in 2020 in Miami, where the Chiefs won.
How to watch the Super Bowl
Happy game day!
Super Bowl LVIII will air on CBS and Paramount+. Those with cable can also use their TV provider to watch on CBS.com or on the CBS app.
For the first time, there will also be a kid-friendly version of the game on Nickelodeon.