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.
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.
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?
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?
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
Beyonce, Coldplay and Bruno Mars in 2016
The Rolling Stones in 2006
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020
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!
Donald Trump says a meeting is being set up between himself and Vladimir Putin – and that he and Barack Obama “probably” like each other.
Republican US president-elect Mr Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday, saying Russian president Mr Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.
“He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Mr Trump said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there was a “mutual desire” to set up a meeting – but added no details had been confirmed yet and that there may be progress once Mr Trump is inaugurated on 20 January.
“Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” Mr Peskov added.
“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this. There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting.”
More on Barack Obama
Related Topics:
Trump on Obama: ‘We just got along’
Mr Trump also made some lighter remarks regarding a viral exchange between himself and former Democrat President Barack Obamaat Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
The pairsat together for the late president’s service in Washington DC on Thursday, and could be seen speaking for several minutes as the remaining mourners filed in before it began.
Mr Obama was seen nodding as his successor spoke before breaking into a grin.
Asked about the exchange, Mr Trump said: “I didn’t realise how friendly it looked.
“I said, ‘boy, they look like two people that like each other’. And we probably do.
“We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
The amicable exchange comes after years of criticising each other in the public eye; it was Mr Trump who spread the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory about Mr Obama in 2011, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying the former president was “ineffective” and “terrible” and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” as recently as October last year.
On Kamala Harris’s campaign trail last year, Mr Obama said Mr Trump was a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”, while the former first lady said that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”
The US Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch attempt by Donald Trump to delay sentencing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
The president-elect was convicted on 34 counts last May in New York of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.
Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.
By a majority, the Supreme Court found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since the presiding judge, Juan M Merchan, has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Mr Trump’s attorneys argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.
At the least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.
Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing.
Judges in New York found that the convictions related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president.
Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Mr Trump has said he will appeal again: “I respect the court’s opinion – I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
Because the New York case was a state, rather than federal crime, Mr Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he takes office on 20 January.