ACTUALLY...
·Updated:
·

 Illustration: Molly Brooks

​Chances are high that on February 1st, you're going to be watching the Super Bowl. We use the term "watching" loosely: Maybe you're the type of person who will find any excuse to eat and drink without remorse and this faux holiday is right up your alley. Regardless, you don't want to attend a social function and not have any knowledge about what's taking place. This isn't the 2012 Presidential Election.

Take these fun, insightful and interesting facts about Super Bowl XLIX (that's 49, for those of you who struggle with Roman numerals) and pawn them off as your own to wow your friends, new and old. Who doesn't love fun facts? No one, that's who! Everyone will be so impressed that they'll totally forget that you didn't know who Jill Stein was in 2012.


The Teams

Super Bowl XLIX pits the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots. This is Seattle's third trip to the Super Bowl (2005, 2013, 2014) and the eighth for New England (1985, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014), sixth with Tom Brady as their starting quarterback.

The Patriots and Seahawks have played each other 16 times, splitting those meetings 8-8. Seattle won their last matchup 24-23 in 2012.

36% of Seattle's Super Bowl Championship team isn't a part of this year's team. 19 players from the Seahawks' 53-player roster this year are new to the team.

The Patriots are the younger team, but only by a few months. The average age of the players on New England is 25.2 and 25.7 for the Seahawks.

 Illustration: Molly Brooks

In his five previous Super Bowl appearances, Tom Brady has thrown for 1,277 yards, a Super Bowl record and an average of 255.4 yards per game. In his one and only appearance, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 206 yards.

If you're looking for a player to root for, Russell Wilson might be your guy. Wilson visits Seattle Children's Hospital every Tuesday to meet patients, like 16-year-old Chris who needs a new heart.



Controversy

In non-heart warming news, the NFL has decided to drop the hammer on Skittles-powered Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. Like most men on the planet, Lynch is a chronic crotch grabber, but league officials consider it taunting. If Lynch is caught with a handful of his own Skittles after a score on February 1st, the Seahawks will be penalized 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff.

 Illustration: Molly Brooks

The biggest news surrounding the New England Patriots is #DeflateGate (or Ballghazi, if you're trying to keep your news stories punny AND contemporary). Both QB Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick deny that their balls are anything but stellar and up to league specifications, blaming it on "climatic conditions."

Tech

For the first time in Super Bowl history, the venue where the game is being played will be lit up by high performance LED lighting. University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale's lighting upgrade has come with great results: increased brightness and illumination, coupled with decreased glare offers a clearer picture with more accurate colors. And compared to the old metal halide fixtures at Glendale's stadium, the new LED lights reduce energy usage by 75%, meaning Super Bowl XLIX will look better and be much greener than in previous years.

 Illustration: Molly Brooks

People used a lot of data during last year's Super Bowl at the MetLife Stadium, with data usage reaching 624GB for AT&T and 1.9TB for Verizon.

To keep up with demand, an intricate IDAS (indoor distributed antenna system) was installed that includes 228 antenna locations, each with its own antenna and remote amplifier unit, connected by roughly 150,000 feet of cable, and is expected to accommodate up to 4TB of data usage.

Science

If you think a deflated football gives the quarterback an advantage, you'd be wrong. Deflating a football actually hinders a quarterback's throw, decreasing the ball's velocity by traveling 0.003 seconds slower on a 20-yard pass.

Seattle corner back Richard Sherman and New England corner back Darrelle Revis make most of the headlines on defense, but Patriots safety Devin McCourty is no slouch. The glue to the Patriot's secondary reaches a top speed of 19.4 MPH and can change direction running in reverse to forward on a play in 0.66 seconds, meaning before the quarterback's throw passes the line of scrimmage, McCourty will be well on his way to making a play on the ball.

Food and Beverage

Americans are expected to consume 1.25 billion wings on February 1st, more than any other day of the year. That works out to about 10 wings per person tuning into the game.

 Illustration: Molly Brooks

Those wings will come at a price. According to government data, the number of chickens slaughtered in the last year dropped dramatically, the equivalent of 50 million wings. In the last month alone, wholesale chicken prices have shot up 6.6% to $1.69 per pound. Fortunately, those pricier wings will also be meatier: farmers took advantage of plummeting corn and soybean costs, keeping those birds well fed.

Favorite dipping sauce for wings depends on geographical location. 49% of wing eaters in the Northeast prefer blue cheese, while the rest of the country chooses ranch dressing.

The two major cities with teams playing in the Super Bowl, Seattle and Boston, aren't even big fans of wings. Residents of Seattle are 17% less likely to eat wings than the average resident in the 42 major markets, while Bostonians are 8% less likely to eat them.

50 million cases of beer will be guzzled down by thirsty Americans on Super Bowl Sunday, a necessity after the 30 million pounds of snacks that they will eat.

Gambling

As far as odds-makers are concerned, this year's game is tougher to call than any previous Super Bowl. Most shops have the game as a pick 'em while Vegas places the Patriots as a -1 point favorite.

Historically, the Patriots have been bad luck for betters, going 1-4 against the spread in their five previous trips to the Super Bowl.

Looking for a safe bet? Pick either quarterback as the game's MVP. The award has been presented to a quarterback 26 times during the past 48 Super Bowls.

Economics

Super Bowl XLIX is shaping up to be the most expensive ever. The average ticket price for this year's Super Bowl is $6,500 with prices starting as low as $3,777. That's 110% more expensive than one year ago.

 Illustration: Molly Brooks

Before huge improvements to the stadium's wireless capabilities were made this year, University of Phoenix Stadium cost $455 million to build. That pales in comparison to MetLife Stadium, site of last year's Super Bowl, which cost $1.6 billion.

A 30-second ad spot during Super Bowl XLIX will cost companies about $4.5 million. For advertisers to come out on top they'll need an audience of 120 million viewers to tune in.

Want more stories like this?

Every day we send an email with the top stories from Digg.

Subscribe