Another Super Bowl has come and gone, but celebrations will likely be ever-changing. America has been getting together since 1967 to honor the biggest sporting event in our country, but was it always thought to be a semi-national holiday?  

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51 years ago, the Super Bowl didn’t have all the glitz and glam we have come to know and love. In fact, it wasn’t even named the Super Bowl, it was called the AFL-NFL Championship Game. The name wasn’t the only thing that showed how little Americans hyped this game up, tickets were no more than $12 and still only a third of the seats in the stadium were filled! The first football games didn’t even have the expensive and extravagant commercials that they do now. Halftime shows were also dulled down- they hired the neighboring school’s marching band to perform for them. Celebrating the Super Bowl in the beginning just meant watching the game, there was no gambling or partying.

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With what little entertainment was put on, this day wasn’t as much about celebrating as it is now, but the growth of the commercials and performances truly reflects the growth of the Super Bowl, and the growth of the audience. The first games were only geared toward football lovers, now that they’ve added more entertainment it hits a bigger demographic. The way the Super Bowl used to be celebrated was strictly by watching the game with whoever else enjoys football. Today we traditionally celebrate by gathering our friends and family to have a watch party filled with betting on our favorite team, something that wasn’t a big player in Super Bowls in the start, and food.

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Monet Rexford, a sophomore psychology major at Penn State Behrend, says “I don’t really care about football. I do love the Super Bowl though, probably because I love watching the half-time show and the puppy bowl.” Today, not only are the commercials something people look forward to, but the rise of the show Puppy Bowl reels in dog-lovers and children. The puppy bowl is a celebration within itself because it mimics the game with dogs. The half-time show is another celebration of the game, the biggest singers of our time come out to perform for the players and audience. The way Monet, and a lot of Americans, learned to love this holiday is because of the entertaining that isn’t centered around sports, it helps us celebrate the game as well.

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Food is another big part of our celebration of this day. American holidays are usually centered around getting together to eat, for example Thanksgiving, and this day is another excuse to do just that! Even for those families who don’t throw a party when they watch the game, they still have their set of snacks to enjoy. Americans have adapted to having a special set of food on this day just as any other holiday. Super Bowl food is also considered “game-day food.” When I asked Matt Falconer, a junior project and supply chain management student at Behrend, what he enjoys on Super Bowl Sunday, he says “you can’t beat watching football and eating wings and pizza all day.”

       

The Super Bowl is just like any other holiday in America. Christmas quickly turned into getting presents, Easter turned into a scavenger hunt for candy, and Thanksgiving became all about the food. The Super Bowl was once simply a legendary football game that turned into a legendary annual event full of company, eating, performances and commercials that will be talked about until the next Super Bowl.