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!
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
5:07
The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:27
How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
Tanking stock markets, collapsing world orders, devastating trade wars; economists with their hair ablaze are scrambling to keep up.
But as we try to make sense of Donald Trumps’s tariff tsunami, economic theory only goes so far. In the end this surely is about something more primal.
Power.
Understanding that may be crucial to how the world responds.
Yes, economics helps explain the impact. The world’s economy has after all shifted on its axis, the way it’s been run for decades turned on its head.
Instead of driving world trade, America is creating a trade war. We will all feel the impact.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:58
PM will ‘fight’ for deal with US
Donald Trump says he is settling scores, righting wrongs. America has been raped, looted and pillaged by the world trading system.
More from US
But don’t be distracted by the hyperbole – and if you think this is about economics alone, you may be missing the point.
Above all, tariffs give Donald Trump power. They strike fear into allies and enemies, from governments to corporations.
This is a president who runs his presidency like a medieval emperor or mafia don.
It is one reason why since his election we have seen what one statesman called a conga line of sycophants make their way to the White House, from world leaders to titans of industry.
The conga line will grow longer as they now redouble their efforts hoping to special treatment from Trump’s tariffs. Sir Keir Starmer among them.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
President Trump’s using similar tactics at home, deploying presidential power to extract concessions and deter dissent in corporate America, academia and the US media. Those who offer favours are spared punishment.
His critics say he seeks a form power for the executive or presidential branch of government that the founding fathers deliberately sought to prevent.
Whether or not that is true, the same playbook of divide and rule through intimidation can now be applied internationally. Thanks to tariffs
Each country will seek exceptions but on Trump’s terms. Those who retaliate may meet escalation.
This is the unforgiving calculus for governments including our own plotting their next moves.
The temptation will be to give Trump whatever he wants to spare their economies, but there is a jeopardy that compounds the longer this goes on.
Image: Could America’s traditional allies turn to China? Pic: AP
Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister who coined the conga line comparison, put it this way: “Pretty much all the international leaders I have seen that have sucked up to Trump have been run over. The reality is if you suck up to bullies, whether it’s global affairs or in the playground, you just get more bullying.”
Trading partners may be able to mitigate the impact of these tariffs through negotiation, but that may only encourage this unorthodox president to demand ever more?
Ultimately the world will need a more reliable superpower than that.
In the hands of such a president, America cannot be counted on.
When it comes to security, stability and prosperity, allies will need to fend for themselves.
And they will need new friends. If Washington can’t be relied on, Beijing beckons.
America First will, more and more, mean America on its own.