Super Bowl

This video traces the Super Bowl's history from its origins through major games, ads, and cultural moments, offering a comprehensive overview of how the event evolved. Note that the video covers through the 2020 season.

In this podcast episode, former Emmy award-winning ESPN producer Dennis Deninger traces the Super Bowl's unlikely rise from the AFL-NFL merger era to a national spectacle, explaining how it reshaped advertising, gambling, television, and American culture.

The name “Super Bowl” was coined by AFL founder Lamar Hunt, who casually suggested it in 1966—riffing on his child’s Super Ball toy—after alternatives such as “The Big One” and “AFL-NFL World Championship Game” proved clunky and forgettable. The name was officially adopted for the third championship.

Tracing Super Bowl logos from early, varied designs to today’s standardized look shows how the NFL adapted to shifting design trends, television demands, and brand strategy.

Super Bowl rings are championship jewelry given to players, coaches, and staff to commemorate a title. Over time, they’ve grown dramatically—from the Packers’ 1966 ring with a single half-carat diamond to modern designs featuring nearly 10 carats.

The resource details where each Super Bowl has been played, listing every host city alongside its stadium, and shows how a small group of warm-weather and domed locations came to dominate hosting duties over time.

Legal Super Bowl wagering has grown sharply over the past decade as US states legalized sports betting. In 2018, sports betting was only legal in Nevada and accounted for $158.5M.

Many sports books offer additional prop bets reserved only for the Super Bowl, including the Gatorade color, the length of the national anthem, and more. In 2026, the betting favorite for the Gatorade color is orange.

By 2026, a single 30-second Super Bowl ad is projected to cost $8M. Advertisements for Super Bowl I in 1967 cost from $37,500 to $42,500 for a 30-second spot.

The list highlights ads that reshaped Super Bowl advertising, including Snickers' Betty White spot, Budweiser's endlessly quoted "Whassup," and Wendy's "Where's the beef," showing how commercials became as memorable as the game itself.