Among the 12 teams who have not won a Super Bowl, the AFC's Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars, and the NFC's Detroit Lions are the only four to have not appeared in the game.

The Super Bowl is among the world's most-watched single sporting events and frequently commands the largest audience among all American broadcasts during the year.

It is second only to the UEFA Champions League final as the most watched annual club sporting event worldwide,[2] and the seven most-watched broadcasts in American television history are Super Bowls.

[8] In the mid-1960s, Lamar Hunt, owner of the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs, first used the term "Super Bowl"[9] to refer to the AFL–NFL championship game in the merger meetings.

One year later, the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL's Minnesota Vikings 23–7 in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, which was the final AFL–NFL World Championship Game played before the merger.

The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the former coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games as well as five NFL championships preceding the merger (1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967).

The Minnesota Vikings were the first team to appear four times without a win, while the Buffalo Bills played in a record four consecutive Super Bowls, losing all four matches.

The Packers won the first two AFL–NFL World Championship Games, later renamed Super Bowls, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders following the 1966 and 1967 seasons, respectively.

[30][31][32][33] They were led by head coach Chuck Noll,[34] the play of offensive stars Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster, and their dominant "Steel Curtain" defense, led by "Mean" Joe Greene, L. C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, and Jack Lambert.

[40][41] Conversely, the Vikings, with their Purple People Eaters defense, were the only other team to appear in multiple Super Bowls (IV, VIII, IX and XI) during the decade but failed to win each one.

Under their leadership, the 49ers won four Super Bowls in the decade (XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV) and made nine playoff appearances between 1981 and 1990, including eight division championships, becoming the second dynasty of the post-merger NFL.

[48] The 1980s also produced the 1985 Chicago Bears, who posted an 18–1 record under head coach Mike Ditka; quarterback Jim McMahon; and Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton.

[56][57] Conversely, the Cincinnati Bengals (XVI and XXIII), Dolphins, (XVII and XIX), and Broncos (XXI, XXII and XXIV) made multiple Super Bowls in the 1980s without winning one.

[73] Super Bowl XXXII saw quarterback John Elway and running back Terrell Davis lead the Denver Broncos to an upset victory over the defending champion Packers, snapping the NFC's thirteen-year winning streak.

In the years between 1995 and 2018, five teams—the Steelers, Patriots, Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, and Indianapolis Colts—accounted for 22 of the 24 AFC Super Bowl appearances (including the last 16), with those same teams often meeting each other earlier in the playoffs.

[83] The Steelers and Colts continued the era of AFC dominance by winning Super Bowls XL and XLI in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, respectively defeating the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.

[84][85] In the 2007 season, the Patriots became the fourth team in NFL history to have a perfect unbeaten and untied regular-season record, the second in the Super Bowl era after the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the first to finish 16–0.

[125] Tom Brady would receive a record sixth Super Bowl championship, the most of any player in NFL history, surpassing his tie with Charles Haley for five wins.

[139] On February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the Chiefs overcame a 10-point deficit at halftime to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38–35, winning Super Bowl LVII on a last-minute field goal.

[144] Super Bowl LVIII holds the record for average number of US viewers, with 123.7 million, making the game the most-viewed television broadcast of any kind in American history.

Early Super Bowls featured a halftime show consisting of marching bands from local colleges or high schools; but as the popularity of the game increased, a trend emerged where popular singers and musicians performed during its pre-game ceremonies and the halftime show, or simply sang the national anthem of the United States, "America the Beautiful", or "Lift Every Voice and Sing".

Beginning with Super Bowl LV in 2021, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is sung prior to "America the Beautiful" in honor of Black History Month.

Since Super Bowl XII in 1978, a former football player, a celebrity, or another special guest participates in the coin toss ceremony to recognize their community involvement or significance.

The halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII attracted controversy, following an incident in which Justin Timberlake removed a piece of Janet Jackson's top, briefly exposing one of her breasts before the broadcast quickly cut away from the shot.

In an effort to prevent a repeat of the incident, the NFL held a moratorium on Super Bowl halftime shows featuring pop performers, and instead invited a single, headlining veteran act, such as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen.

This practice ended at Super Bowl XLV, which returned to using current pop acts such as the Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga.

Traditionally, the NFL does not award Super Bowls to stadiums that are located in climates with an expected average daily temperature less than 50 °F (10 °C) on game day unless the field can be completely covered by a fixed or retractable roof.

Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 was originally given to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, but after two sales taxes failed to pass at the ballot box (a renovation proposal had passed successfully, but a second ballot question to add a rolling roof structure to be shared with Kaufmann Stadium critical for the game to be hosted was rejected), and opposition by local business leaders and politicians increased, Kansas City eventually withdrew its request to host the game.

[216] Legislation was proposed by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch in 2008 "to provide an exemption from exclusive rights in copyright for certain nonprofit organizations to display live football games", and "for other purposes".

[218][219][220] In 2006, the NFL made an attempt to trademark "The Big Game" as well; however, it withdrew the application in 2007 due to growing commercial and public relations opposition to the move, mostly from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley and their fans, as the Stanford Cardinal football and California Golden Bears football teams compete in the Big Game, which has been played since 1892 (28 years before the formation of the NFL and 75 years before Super Bowl I).