- The football event of the year will take place in New Orleans
- We now know which teams will play
- Kendrick Lamar will play the halftime show
January’s almost over, which means one thing – the Super Bowl is nearly here.
The biggest football event of the year is taking place at the Caesar’s Superdome, New Orleans, the home of the New Orleans Saints. It is now in its 59th year.
The final game of the NFL calendar regularly draws over 100m television viewers in the United States alone (the Kansas City Chiefs victory over the San Francisco 49ers drew an audience of 123m, last year) with more than 50m more people watching outside of the US.
New Orleans last hosted the Super Bowl in 2013 and was planning to do so last year. However, changes to the season’s game order and scheduling conflicts means Las Vegas hosted instead.
Here’s when the action is set to kick off.
When is the 59th Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is taking place on Sunday, February 9. It will begin at 5:30pm local time.
Who is playing this year?
As predicted, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl again this year to defend their title. Chances are, with tight end Travis Kelce on the team, Taylor Swift will probably be in the stands too.
Coming up to the game, some thought the Detroit Lions could reach their first ever Super Bowl after a successful season. However, it wasn’t quite meant to be.
Instead, the Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the Eagles’ second appearance in the Super Bowl in the space of three seasons.
What about the halftime show?
This year, Kendrick Lamar will be taking center stage.
Read more: Super Bowl LIX halftime show: Everything you need to know
Lamar’s landmark halftime show follows his highly publicised exchange of diss tracks with Drake. One of these tracks, Not Like Us, proved a massive hit for Lamar – much to the chagrin of Drake, who may well endure the performance a song calling him a pedophile to a TV audience of over 100m people.
As big as the show is, Lamar won’t receive any money for it. He might, however, still enjoy monetary rewards in the form of increased ticket record and sales and a negligible amount from streams.
The NFL does cover production costs and travel expenses for the artists appearing, but the exposure alone (although it has to be questioned what exposure a Super Bowl halftime show act could possibly need, given they are routinely the biggest stars in the world) is seen as payment enough.
