Super Bowl LVI: Cincinnati Bengals versus Los Angeles Rams (Anadolu via AP)
ANKARA – The Cincinnati Bengals will face off against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night.
The final National Football League game of the season will be played at the Rams’ home field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
With more than 70,000 fans filling the stadium for the most popular sporting event in the United States, each spectator will receive a KN95 mask.
Fans are also required to show proof of vaccination, a negative polymerase chain reaction test that was taken within 48 hours before the game, or a negative antigen test that was taken within 24 hours.
More than 184 million people in the US are expected to watch the game that will be televised by the NBC network in more than 225 television stations in 180 countries.
NBC set a record for this year's advertisements, asking USD7 million for a 30-second spot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That is a 27-percent increase from last year's game that had an average cost of USD5.5 million.
While 40 percent of Americans will watch the game, 21 percent are expected to tune in for the commercials, and 18 percent say they consider the half-time show the most important part of the event, according to the National Retail Federation.
Around 90 million are planning to throw or attend a party on Super Bowl Sunday, up 43 percent from 62.8 million last year, while an additional 13.7 million plan to watch the game at a bar or restaurant.
Total spending on food, drinks, apparel, decorations, and other purchases for the Super Bowl is expected to reach USD14.6 billion, with USD78.92 per individual, said the retail trade association.
As for purchases, 79 percent are estimated to be spent on food and beverages, 11 percent on team apparel, and 9 percent on a new television.
But food prices have skyrocketed amid record-high inflation, supply bottlenecks, shipping delays, shortages in the labor force, and severe winter weather conditions.
Wing prices are up 0.3 percent per pound this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Americans are expected to consume 1.42 billion wings for the big game, according to the National Chicken Council, and the American Pizza Community organization estimates 12.5 million pizzas will be sold in the US on game day.
As for fans who want to attend SoFi Stadium, the cheapest ticket can be found for USD4,000 and the average is going for USD8,700, according to Ticketmaster and ticket exchange and resale company, StubHub.
Very Important Person suites went for as much as USD100,000 on NFL Ticket Exchange.
Hip-hop, rap, and soul artists Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar will provide half-time entertainment, along with Sean Forbes and Warren Snipe, two deaf rappers who will perform sign-language interpretations for the first time during an NFL live event. (Anadolu)
