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28 Jan 2021
This year’s Super Bowl is finally set after one of the most unusual NFL seasons in the game’s history. Super Bowl LV will be played in Tampa, Florida on the 7th of February at Raymond James Stadium between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Like the rest of the season, this Super Bowl will be unlike any other due to Covid-19. There may not be as much fanfare at the stadium, but the game is sure to be one of the most watched events of the year.
Super Bowl LV will mark the first time in NFL history that the game will take place in one of the participant’s home stadiums. Usually, the game is played at a neutral site, but this year with the game already planned for Tampa Bay prior to the season, the Bucs just so happened to be good enough to make it. In the post season, the Bucs defeated the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints, and Green Bay Packers handily to make it to the Super Bowl. This will be the second time the Bucs have made it to the big game since 2002, when they defeated the Oakland Raiders. However, the Bucs have plenty of Super Bowl pedigree on their current roster, with former New England Patriots players Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Brady already has more Super Bowl rings than any player in NFL history, with six to be exact. If he were to win his seventh ring after his first year in Tampa Bay, he would easily cement his legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time.
On the other side of the ball, we have the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are led by an exciting offense made up of superstar players Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and phenom Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is touted as the best player in the game, after setting the league on fire in his first couple seasons. He already has a league MVP award from 2018 and a Super Bowl victory from last season. This year, Mahomes and the Chiefs were the number one seed in the AFC heading into the playoffs, defeating the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills to reach the pinnacle game. This Super Bowl will really represent the best of the new and the old with the quarterback matchup. Many people are anticipating Mahomes to challenge Tom Brady’s records throughout his career, but if Tom Brady wins the head-to-head matchup in the biggest game, it will be hard for Patrick Mahomes to supplant Tom Brady’s legacy.
It’s a little ironic this will be the first Super Bowl taking place at a home stadium, because even though it will be a home game for Tampa Bay, there won’t be much advantage in the stands due to limited crowd capacity. No NFL games this year have been close to full capacity, and the Super Bowl will be no different. After discussions with the CDC, the Florida Department of Health, and local hospitals, the NFL has decided to allow only 22,000 fans to attend the game. Out of those 22,000 tickets, around 7,500 were donated to vaccinated health care workers, and no other tickets will be available to the public unless it’s through the secondary market. As of this writing, the lowest secondary market ticket price is currently $10,940 for a set of four tickets on Ticketmaster, $9,954 for four tickets on SeatGeek, and $8,832 for four tickets on StubHub – with most of these options being in the upper decks. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a ticket to the game, expect strict NFL guidelines when it comes to mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, and extra screenings when entering the stadium.
Of course, like years past, the best seats for most of us will be from the comfort of home. The view from the couch, however, will be a little different during commercial breaks, with multiple major companies sitting out this year’s broadcast. Instead, these companies will be opting to put their advertising dollars towards charities, relief efforts, or vaccine awareness. This Super Bowl will certainly be remembered for the superstar matchup on the field, but it will also be a great time to show appreciation for the superstars off it, our frontline and essential workers.