Given the importance and all the hype of the Super Bowl, the history is relatively brief. The idea of a bowl game was nothing new in football, but the emergence of the Super Bowl elevate the past time to the level of American tradition. It started as a game that gathered the champions of the two major football leagues of the time, the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). In 1967, the first game was held to determine which team in both leagues was truly the best team.

The first Super Bowl capped off the 196 seasons and took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967. Nearly 62,000 football fanatics filed into the stadium to watch the ultimate football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi taught their rivals a painful lesson regarding who was the champion as they won the game 35-10. In addition to the tens of thousands of fans present, millions more watched at home and in bars. Instantly, the Super Bowl was an American tradition. The Super Bowl emerged as a rivalry between the NFL and the AFL, but professional football had begun decades earlier in 1920.

Professional football began with the 14-league American Professional Football Association (APFA). Only 2 years later, the APFA became the NFL and experienced no serious competition until 1960 when the AFL became a rival power. After spending years in a bitter rivalry, the NFL and AFL were forced into breaking a merger deal in an attempt to avoid financial ruin. Together they decided to bring on the merger gradually. They would share a draft and championship bowl in the 1967 season, and they would be merged into a single football league consisting of 26 teams by 1970 which would continue to hold the name of the NFL. Even though the NFL was still considered number 1, the AFL seriously influenced it in a way that its predecessors never could.

In 1970 when the NFL absorbed the AFL, two NFL conferences were developed, the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Each conference had its own super team and decided to put their still existence rivalry to rest in the form of the Super Bowl. Since then, occasional football leagues have started up but never last very long. The NFL has created a superpower filled with other superpowers that come together to play the Super Bowl. The past time of football combined with the history and excitement of the Super Bowl cannot be brought down by an attempt to create a new league.

The Super Bowl has reached the status of a de facto national holiday dubbed Super Bowl Sunday. It has even been reported that Super Bowl Sunday is only behind Thanksgiving in terms of food consumption on a single day. As football fans, both the casual and diehard, prepare their chicken wings and taco dip, a lucky group will actually get to witness the legendary game firsthand. While the stadium holds tens of thousands of people, it is not nearly big enough to hold the millions of fans who want to be there. The demand for Super Bowl tickets has risen with each passing year. Even in a down economy, fans are still willing to shell out thousands of dollars to reserve their seat. Unfortunately, this means that the prices of these coveted tickets rise with the demand. To get a spot in the nose bleed section, it can still cost more than $2,000 for a single seat. For those who want a prime view right on the 50-yard line, they skyrocket over $5,000.

A culture has been built around the Super Bowl. The commercial, the halftime show, the merchandise, and much more all combine to create a day that will live in infamy every single year. All these aspects seem to get more extravagant with each passing year making the tickets more desirable. Also, depending on which teams make it to the Super Bowl, whole cities, states, and regions will spend hours scouring the internet and ticket sales sites to get their hands on a pair. Super Bowl tickets are in growing demand and continue to rise with each passing year. Practically a national holiday, it is a day filled with food, drinks, and probably a lot of heart-pumping adrenaline. The truth is, while it may be an extremely expensive day, it is one that no one who is there can ever forget or regret.