It’s set. Denver and Seattle, a pair of franchises with contrasting pedigrees and quarterbacks, will meet in Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2 at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Denver, a two-time Super Bowl winner making its seventh appearance, advanced by beating New England 26-16 behind the play of prolific passer Peyton Manning, who set NFL records this season with 55 touchdown throws and 5,477 yards. Seattle will be making its second appearance after beating San Francisco 23-17 behind the play of a rugged defense and second-year quarterback Russell Wilson, a second-year pro who threw for 3,357 yards and 26 touchdowns and had 539 rushing yards and a score during the regular season.
MetLife Stadium
MetLife Stadium, which opened in the spring of 2010, is the first building owned and operated by two NFL franchises, the New York Jets and New York Giants. A look at the site of Super Bowl XLVIII:
Cost: $1.6 billion
Venue size: 2.1 million square feet
Capacity: 82,500, capability for 90,000 for non-football major events
Suites: 200-plus on four separate levels; 16-24 seats per suite
Suite designer: David Rockwell Group
Club seating capacity: More than 10,000 seats
Parking: Approximately 28,000 spaces
Mass transportation: New Jersey Transit rail station located in front of stadium; accessible from New York Penn Station and Newark Penn Station — approximately 20 minutes door to door
Video boards: There are more than 2,200 HDTVs and four 18’ x 130’ high-definition LED video boards in each corner of the seating bowl and includes a building-wide Wi-Fi system.
Penalty crew
Referee Terry McAulay will head the seven-man crew of game officials selected to work Super Bowl XLVIII. The other members of the officiating crew are umpire Carl Paganelli, head linesman Jim Mello, line judge Tom Symonette, field judge Scott Steenson, side judge Dave Wyant and back judge Steve Freeman.
Who gets Super Bowl XLVIII
tickets?
A look at how tickets to the big game are distributed:
| League office | 25.2% |
| AFC champion | 17.5% |
| NFC champion | 17.5% |
| Host teams | 6.2% (3.1% each) |
| Other 28 teams | 33.5% (1.2 % each) |
Home cooking
The AFC champion Denver Broncos will be the home team in the Super Bowl and will wear their choice of jerseys.
30 degrees for Super Bowl XLVIII?
Could there be a Super Ice Bowl? Since this year’s Super Bowl is in New Jersey, it’s plausible. Did they not learn from the the weather fiasco here? While Super Bowl XLV’s weather was an anomaly, at least AT&T Stadium is covered while MetLife Stadium is outdoors (the first played in the elements since 2010 in Miami). The average temperature at the site on Feb. 2 is 30 degrees, with a high of 37 and low of 22. The Farmers’ Almanac, which has been in the weather-predicting business for 197 years, says look for a winter storm to hit the Super Bowl. Who knows what to expect? The only sure thing is that the Cowboys won’t be there, but here’s hoping for a snowy Super Bowl.
Championship weather
For the first time, the Super Bowl will be held in an open-air stadium in a cold-weather climate when Super Bowl XLVIII kicks off at Metlife Stadium on Feb. 2. A look at the coldest outdoor Super Bowl kickoff temperatures in NFL history
39º Super Bowl VI Jan. 16, 1972, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans (Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3)
46º Super Bowl IX Jan. 12, 1975, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans (Steelers 16, Vikings 6)
50º Super Bowl VIII Jan. 13, 1974, Rice Stadium, Houston (Dolphins 24, Vikings 7)
53º Super Bowl XIX Jan. 20, 1985, Stanford Stadium, Stanford, Calif. (49ers 38, Dolphins 16)
57º Super Bowl X Jan. 18, 1976, Orange Bowl, Miami (Steelers 21, Cowboys 17)
Super regulars
| Most appearances | Most victories | ||
| Cowboys | 8 | Steelers | 6 |
| Steelers | 8 | Cowboys | 5 |
| Broncos | 7 | 49ers | 5 |
| Patriots | 7 | Packers | 4 |
| 49ers | 6 | Giants | 4 |
Future Super Bowls
XLIX: Feb. 1, 2015, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
L: Feb. 7, 2016, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.*
LI: Feb. 5, 2017, Reliant Stadium, Houston*
* Tentative date
Halftime show
Bruno Mars has invited the Red Hot Chili Peppers to join him during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show. The Pepsi Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched musical event of the year. More than 110.5 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year’s show. Bruno Mars joins an esteemed list of recent halftime acts that includes Beyoncé, Madonna, The Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and U2.
Super payday
Here’s a breakdown of Super Bowl bonuses this season:
$92,000 Payout to players on winning team
$46,000 Payout to players on losing team
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