Super Bowl XLII
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| Date | February 3, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | University of Phoenix Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| City | Glendale, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Eli Manning, Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Patriots by 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Jordin Sparks | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, along with Bill Walsh's children, Craig and Elizabeth. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Mike Carey | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 71,101 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | FOX | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Joe Buck and Troy Aikman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen Ratings | 43.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Market share | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of 30-sec commercial | $2.7 million | ||||||||||||||||||
Super Bowl XLII, the 42nd annual edition of the Super Bowl in American football, will determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) following the 2007 regular season. The game is scheduled to be played on February 3 2008 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. This will be the second time that the Phoenix area will host a Super Bowl game; Super Bowl XXX in January 1996 was played in Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium, on the campus of Arizona State University.
The game will be contested by the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots. New England will attempt to become the first unbeaten NFL team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the first one since the league expanded to a 16-game regular season in 1978. This game will also be a rematch of the teams' regular season-ending game on December 29 2007, in which the Patriots won, 38-35, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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[edit] Background
[edit] Host selection process
The league contemplated the idea of holding Super Bowl XLII in either New York City or Washington, D.C. as a symbol of the recovery from the September 11, 2001 attacks.[1]
However, New York City was not even considered as a finalist. First, the proposed renovations to Giants Stadium were still being disputed among its stadium representatives. Secondly, New York City and the New York Jets at the time still had not finalized a plan to build the new West Side Stadium (Ultimately, the deal fell through)[2]
When NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XLII to Glendale during their October 30, 2003 meeting in Chicago, Illinois, they rejected Washington because they preferred a warmer and drier climate.[3]
[edit] Venue
This will be the first time a Super Bowl is played on a retractable natural-grass field surface, as the University of Phoenix Stadium removable surface is unique for American sports venues.[4]
This will also be the second Super Bowl played in a retractable-roof stadium (designed by Peter Eisenman and HOK Sport). During the regular season, the home team decides 90 minutes before kickoff if the roof would be open or closed, and an open roof must remain open unless weather conditions get worse. However, as a neutral site, the NFL controls the option to open or close without any restrictions. The first time this was employed was in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium; the roof was open for pregame and halftime shows and closed during the game.[5]
During a February 6, 2007 ceremony with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, the NFL and the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee unveiled the slogan "Who Wants It More?" along with its mascot "Spike the Super Ball" (an anthropomorphized football with sunglasses and sneakers) and a large "Super Bowl XLII Countdown Clock" at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.[6] The Super Bowl XLII logo was also unveiled, featuring the shape of the state of Arizona in red. The two horizontal white stripes in the middle represent the vertical lines on the University of Phoenix Stadium. The turquoise Roman Numerals represent the Native American culture of Arizona. The red star represents the AFC and the blue star represents the NFC. [6]
[edit] Teams
[edit] New England Patriots
- For more details on this topic, see 2007 New England Patriots season.
The Patriots will enter Super Bowl XLII with an unprecedented 18-0 record, one away from being the first team in 35 seasons to complete a perfect season. The team's tremendous success had some controversy, as the Patriots were accused of videotaping opponents' play signals in the first week of the season. Also, some opponents accused the Patriots of running up the score when the game was clearly in hand — something generally considered unsportsmanlike in the NFL.
In the process of winning all 18 games leading up to the Super Bowl, quarterback Tom Brady and receiver Randy Moss set individual season records for most touchdown passes and receptions, repectively.
[edit] New York Giants
- For more details on this topic, see 2007 New York Giants season.
The Giants entered the playoffs as a wild-card qualifier, clinching the fifth seed in the NFC. Having their playoff position determined going into the final week of the season, the Giants faced a New England Patriots team determined to put the final win in an undefeated 16-game regular season. Despite the loss, the Giants had a strong showing against the Patriots, losing 38-35 in the regular season finale.
The Giants completed a 10-game road-winning streak, having defeated the Green Bay Packers 23-20 in overtime with a game-time temperature of Template:Convert.
[edit] Broadcasting
The game will be televised in the United States on FOX, and will be called by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman[7], with Pam Oliver and Chris Myers working as the sideline reporters for this game. The pre-game will be handled by the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show team led by Curt Menefee, joined by Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson. Official pre-game coverage will start at 2 PM US EST, with preliminary events, including NFL Films' Road to the Super Bowl highlight show starting at 12 Noon.
In Canada, CTV has acquired the rights to the game, ending Global's longtime coverage.
In the United Kingdom, the BBC have acquired the rights to show the game live on BBC Two[8][9][10], ending ITV Sport's coverage which began in 2005. Sky Sports will once again broadcast the game in High Definition.
In Mexico, Televisa and TV Azteca will broadcast the game in Spanish including their first HD broadcast. In Brazil, BandSports will broadcast the game. In Poland, Canal+ will broadcast Super Bowl XLII
[edit] Entertainment
According to the entertainment publication Variety, the NFL developed a wish list for the halftime performer(s). Among those on the wish list of potential entertainers were Bruce Springsteen, Norah Jones and The Eagles.[11] On August 16, both the NFL and FOX confirmed that American Idol host Ryan Seacrest will serve in that role for the pre-game and halftime shows. On Willie Nelson's official website it states that he will be performing for a pre-game tailgate party.[12]
On December 2, 2007, it was officially announced that Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers would be the halftime entertainment with Bridgestone as the show sponsor.[13] American Idol Season Six winner and native Phoenican Jordin Sparks will sing the National Anthem.[14] Continuing the American Idol-izing of the Super Bowl, one of the show's judges, Paula Abdul, will debut her first music video in over a decade which she made with fellow judge Randy Jackson as part of FOX's pregame coverage to kickoff her official comeback.[15] On January 16, 2008, TMZ confirmed that Abdul has started rehersals, and also stated that Soulja Boy will also be present.
[edit] Officials
Mike Carey has been chosen to be the head referee for this game; this marks the first time that an African-American has been chosen to be the lead official in a Super Bowl.[16]
[edit] Commercials
The scheduled date for Super Bowl XLII is Sunday, February 3; this is two days before Super Tuesday, the date in which 24 states are holding their presidential primaries. As such, some presidential hopefuls have considered purchasing Super Bowl ads. An advisor to Republican presidential candidate John McCain (who incidentally is a United States Senator from Arizona), said that the football audience is "a very ripe and timely target."[17]
One of fifty-eight 30-second spots will cost an estimated $2.7 million, up from $2.6 million in 2006. However, advertisers are usually offered discounted rates below the official one. Cars.com, which had yet to buy a Super Bowl Ad, made an early announcement that it will purchase two spots.[18] Following up on its Super Bowl XLI ad, which was one of several fan-created ads that year, the Doritos brand will use its spot to air a brief performance by an unsigned artist that wins an online contest.[19] Through December 7, all but two ad slots were sold.[20] Fans are being asked on the superbowl.com web pages to pick the NFL's official Super Bowl ad from several players.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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