Why is it becoming trendy to watch the Super Bowl in Australia? Who is the Australian playing in it this year? And when did the half-time show get to be (almost) a bigger deal than the game itself? EXPLAINER
What's the Super Bowl?
In the US, the game kicks off on a Sunday evening – making it prime-time family entertainment in the States. It's the most-watched TV event in the US every year. The biggest audience was 114 million in 2015 when the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks. Some 99 million Americans watched the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams last year.
The 49ers were one of the league’s worst teams last year but through some shrewd acquisitions in the player market and the NFL rookie draft they became a formidable force this year.Wait, there’s an Australian in the Super Bowl? "While Americans grow up wanting to throw the ball," he says on the 49ers website, "we grow up trying to kick 60-yard goals. Sure, the techniques are slightly different, but the swing of your leg is pretty much the same. We have that muscle memory drilled into us from a young age."
"I thought that American-type things like the Super Bowl and Halloween were getting bigger and bigger in Australia," says Luna Park sales manager Billy Andonovski. "I knew it would work from a business point of view but I was surprised how quickly it grew." The most popular team in Australia is the New England Patriots, from the north-east of the US, largely because they have been the dominant force in the sport in the US over the past two decades, winning six Super Bowls between 2001 and 2019 .
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