Honestly, if you walked up to a football fan in 1966 and asked them when the "Super Bowl" was happening, they’d probably give you a blank stare. Or maybe laugh. Back then, the game we now treat like a national holiday didn't even have its famous name. It was officially called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Pretty catchy, right?
Not really.
So, when did the Super Bowl start? The short answer is January 15, 1967. But the "how" and "why" are way more interesting than just a date on a calendar. It involved a high-bouncing toy, a bitter corporate war, and a stadium that was—believe it or not—one-third empty.
The Day Everything Changed: January 15, 1967
The first game kicked off at 1:15 p.m. local time at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It wasn't the glitzy, pop-star-studded spectacle we see now. There were no drones or $7 million commercials.
The Green Bay Packers, representing the established NFL, took on the Kansas City Chiefs from the upstart AFL. The NFL guys looked at the AFL as a "junior circuit." They thought the Chiefs were basically a high school team. Vince Lombardi, the legendary Packers coach, was under immense pressure to prove the NFL’s superiority. He was so nervous he was reportedly shaking before the game.
Packers won. 35-10.
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But here’s the kicker: it was the only Super Bowl in history that wasn't a sellout. You could actually buy a ticket at the gate for $12. Even with inflation, that’s only about $110 today. Imagine getting into a Super Bowl for a hundred bucks now! About 33,000 seats stayed empty because people in LA thought the ticket prices were a total rip-off.
Why the "Super Bowl" Almost Had a Boring Name
We have Lamar Hunt to thank for the name. He owned the Kansas City Chiefs and was one of the driving forces behind the merger.
The NFL Commissioner at the time, Pete Rozelle, hated the term "Super Bowl." He thought it lacked "stature." He wanted to call it the "The Big One" or even the "Pro League Championship Game." Seriously.
Hunt came up with the name because his daughter was obsessed with a toy called a Super Ball. It was a high-bounce rubber ball made by Wham-O. During a meeting, Hunt accidentally called the game the "Super Bowl," and while he told everyone it was just a placeholder name that "could obviously be improved upon," it stuck.
The fans loved it. The media loved it. By 1969, for the third game, the league finally gave up and made "Super Bowl" the official title.
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The Strange Case of the Two Networks
Because the AFL and NFL were still technically separate entities in 1967, two different networks had the rights to their games. CBS had the NFL; NBC had the AFL.
So, they both broadcasted the game.
It is the only time in history two major networks went head-to-head on the same game. They used different announcers but the same video feed. If you think modern sports media is a mess, imagine trying to decide which channel to watch for the exact same footage.
A War of Two Leagues
To understand when the Super Bowl started, you have to understand the "war."
In the early 1960s, the NFL was king. Then the AFL showed up in 1960 and started poaching players. They offered huge salaries. They played a faster, more "wide-open" style of football. The two leagues hated each other. They were spending so much money trying to outbid each other for college players that they were both going broke.
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By 1966, they realized they had to merge or die. The "Super Bowl" was the peace treaty. It was a way to crown one true champion before the leagues fully combined into one organization in 1970.
Evolution of the Spectacle
The halftime show at the first game? It was just two guys in jetpacks and a couple of marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling State. No Rihanna. No Prince. Just some brass instruments and 10,000 pigeons being released into the air.
- 1967: First game played (Super Bowl I).
- 1969: The name "Super Bowl" becomes official for Super Bowl III.
- 1970: The AFL and NFL officially merge into one league with two conferences.
- 1971: Roman numerals are introduced starting with Super Bowl V.
What Most People Get Wrong
A common misconception is that the Super Bowl has always been the biggest thing on TV. In reality, it took a few years to find its footing. It wasn't until Super Bowl III, when Joe Namath famously "guaranteed" a victory for the underdog New York Jets, that the world realized the AFL could actually beat the NFL. That game changed everything. It turned the Super Bowl from a curious experiment into a must-see cultural event.
Another weird fact? The original tapes of Super Bowl I were lost for decades. Back then, videotape was expensive, so the networks just recorded over the game with soap operas and game shows. It sounds insane now, but they didn't think anyone would care about a "world championship" game five years down the road.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of how this all began, here is what you should do:
- Watch the "Lost" Footage: Look up the NFL Network's restoration of Super Bowl I. They spent years piecing together footage from various sources to recreate the game since the original broadcast tapes were wiped.
- Visit the Hall of Fame: If you’re ever in Canton, Ohio, you can see the actual "Super Ball" that inspired Lamar Hunt. It's sitting right there in a glass case.
- Check the Roman Numerals: If you ever get confused, remember that the Roman numeral system started with Super Bowl V because the game is played in a different year than the season started. It was meant to keep things "orderly."
- Compare the Stats: Look at the box score of the 1967 game versus last year. The difference in passing yards and "big plays" shows you just how much the rules have changed to favor the offense over the last 50+ years.
The Super Bowl started as a desperate business move to save two struggling leagues. It wasn't planned as a global phenomenon; it was a compromise. Next time you're at a Super Bowl party, remember that the whole thing basically exists because of a $0.98 rubber ball and a bunch of owners who couldn't stop arguing.