The 57th Super Bowl will kick off on Sunday – here’s all you need to know to watch the biggest game of the NFL season.
Often filled with drama, performance, politics and showbiz – the culmination of the NFL (National Football League) season is back for another year this weekend.
With millions around the world set to tune in – here is everything you need to know about Super Bowl LVII.
So sit back, relax, grab your match-day snacks and prepare for a classic.
When is it and how can I watch?
Super Bowl LVII will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, but you can cosy up in the comfort of your own home because it’s set to air on Sky Sports NFL (407) and Sky Sports Main Event (401) on Sunday, 12 February.
Coverage starts at 10pm (UK time), with kick-off in the big game at 11.30pm.
If you’re up late and on the move, you can also watch the show with Sky Go – online or on NOW TV, with the Sky Sports Day Pass.
Who’s playing?
A storm is brewing, with The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs set to go head-to-head.
History in the making
This is what Sky News’s Alan McGuinness has to say about this year:
This year’s contest will see history made.
It’s the first time two black quarterbacks have faced off for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Patrick Mahomes has been here before.
The Chiefs QB will be playing in his third Super Bowl since becoming the team’s starter in 2018.
Image: Pic: AP
He led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years in 2020, but was on the losing side the following year.
The mercurial Mahomes is a dynamic playmaker who can burn defences through the air or on the ground.
With him under centre, the Chiefs are perennial Super Bowl contenders – this is their third appearance in four years. But Mahomes could be hampered by an ankle injury he sustained earlier in the playoffs.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is playing in his first Super Bowl in what is his second full season as the team’s starter.
Image: Pic: AP
The Eagles will be competing in the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl, with the team’s sole victory coming in 2018.
Both teams entered the playoffs as the number one seeds in their respective conferences, having both notched up 14-3 records in the regular season.
It means we should be in for an exciting game come Sunday.
Who will sing the national anthem?
Image: Pic: AP
The American football show is known for its showbiz magic and touch of patriotic symbolism.
The national anthem often marks the opening of the grand event and has been a tradition year after year.
This year, country singer, songwriter and guitarist Chris Stapleton will be taking the lead.
Stapleton has previously reached the top of the country charts and has won eight Grammy Awards, among many others.
Up next it’s the half-time show. Who’s performing?
Image: Pic: AP
This year it’s Rihanna who takes centre stage.
The Super Bowl is known for its exciting performances at half-time with the momentous event often a pinnacle in many artists’ careers.
Apple Music said: “It’s ON. Rihanna will take the stage for the first-ever Apple Music Super Bowl Half-time Show on 2.12.23.”
The Barbadian singer is known for her pop and R&B flow and is a worldwide sensation in the music scene. She is also known for the launch of her beauty and fashion lines, Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty.
The Super Bowl stage does not fall short of great performances over the years, from the Rolling Stones in 2006, to Madonna in 2012.
Here are some previous show-stopping moments that had crowds roaring.
Madonna in 2012
Image: Pic: AP
Beyonce, Coldplay and Bruno Mars in 2016
Image: Pic: AP
The Rolling Stones in 2006
Image: Pic: AP
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020
Image: Shakira (L) Jennifer Lopez (R). Pic: AP
What about the ads?
Roughly 100 million people tune in to watch the Super Bowl each year – which makes it advertising’s biggest stage.
Big companies from Netflix to Google are paying as much as $7m for a 30-second spot.
In order to get as much as a return on investment for those millions, most advertisers release their ads in the days ahead of the big game to get the most publicity for their spots.
But what are ads without celebrity?
The Super Bowl makes headlines for the glitz and the glam as well as just the sport.
In the ads released so far, actor Miles Teller dances to customer-service hold music for Bud Light, Will Ferrell crashes popular Netflix shows like Bridgerton in a joint ad for GM and Netflix; and Alicia Silverstone reprises her Clueless character for online shopping site Rakuten.
Here’s who else we’ll see.
Melissa McCarthy stars in a musical number for Booking.com about her desire to go on a trip “somewhere, anywhere”.
Nick Jonas returns for the second year in an ad that highlight’s Dexcom’s glucose monitoring system.
Hellmann’s shows actors Jon Hamm and Brie Larson in a fridge with a jar of mayo. Get it?
Beer brand Michelob Ultra’s two ads are set at Bushwood Country Club, the fictional country club in Caddyshack, and star tennis great Serena Williams, actor Brian Cox, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, soccer player Alex Morgan and boxer Canelo Alvarez.
The Frito-Lay brand PopCorners recreates Breaking Bad with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul – but this time the duo are cooking up the PopCorners snack in their RV instead of anything illicit.
Uber’s ad for its membership program Uber One shows hip hop mogul P Diddy working to create a hit song for Uber One. The ad features Montell Jordan (“This is How We Do It”), Kelis (“Milkshake”), Donna Lewis (“I Love You Always Forever”), Haddaway (“What is Love”) and Ylvis (“What Does the Fox Say”).
In the first Super Bowl ad from enterprise software company Workday, rock stars Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Joan Jett and others complain that office workers shouldn’t call each other rock stars.
And finally, who holds the most Super Bowl titles?
Coming out on top, The Patriots and Steelers are familiar with playing on the big stage. Here are the top wins from 1967 to 2022 according to Statista:
Pittsburgh Steelers: 6
New England Patriots: 6
San Francisco 49ers: 5
Dallas Cowboys: 5
New York Giants: 4
Green Bay Packers: 4
And that’s all you need to know for the big game – enjoy the match!
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Image: Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Image: Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
She stuck by her version of events until the end
Of the many dozens of victims of Jeffrey Epstein, it was Virginia Giuffre who became the most high-profile.
She was among the loudest and most compelling voices, urging criminal charges to be brought against Epstein, waving her right to anonymity in 2015.
She told how he and Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her and “passed around like a platter of fruit” to be used by rich and powerful men.
But her name and face became known around the world after she accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.
The picture of her together with the prince and Maxwell at the top of a staircase, his hand around her waist, is the defining image of the whole scandal.
Prince Andrew said he had no memory of the occasion. But Giuffre stuck by her version of events until the end.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Image: Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.
They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.
There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.
The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.
Image: Trump and Zelenskyy meet for first time since Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.
More on Ukraine
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The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” with “most of the major points agreed” – as he called for the two sides to meet.
Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to “finish [the deal] off”.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russiaand Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’.
“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
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2:26
Ukraine-Russia peace talks explained
Throughout the week, the US president has criticised both Ukraine and Russia for failing to agree to a peace deal.
On Wednesday, he accused Mr Zelenskyy of harming talks on Truth Social, saying “the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE”.
More on Donald Trump
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A day later, after nine people were killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone strike, Mr Trump said: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
The president and other officials have also threatened to withdraw from negotiations if no progress is made toward a deal.
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2:24
Putin-Witkoff meeting
The talks allowed Russia and the United States to “further bring their positions closer together” on “a number of international issues”, a Kremlin aide said.
Speaking earlier on the flight to Italy, Mr Trump said he hadn’t been fully briefed on Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin’s meeting – but added it was a “pretty good meeting”.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal conceding land or handing over sovereignty to Russia.
However, Mr Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” describing the region as a place where Moscow has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian”.
“Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” he added. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”
When asked on Friday about Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Zelenskyy did not want to comment but repeated that recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line.