The number one sporting event of the year is coming up again: the Super Bowl! After the past few seasons saw Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes dominating, Super Bowl LVI is set to have an unorthodox matchup. 

Taking place on Sunday, February 13, second-year quarterback Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals will face off against veteran Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. 

For both leaders, this is their first time in the big game. Burrow had never been in the playoffs before this season, while Stafford was toiling away on the lowly Lions since he was drafted. 2021-22 is his first year with Los Angeles. 

For the Bengals, this is their chance to make history. The team has only reached the Super Bowl two other times in history; in 1982 and 1989. They lost to the 49ers both times. That rematch almost occurred again, as San Francisco lost by just three points to the Rams in the NFC Championship Round this past weekend. 

This marks the fifth Super Bowl appearance by the Rams. They lost to the Patriots in 2019, and only won the game in 2000, when they still played in St. Louis. 

Cincinnati has been put as the underdogs, which makes sense; they have a much weaker offensive line, a younger quarterback, and their wild card round win versus the Raiders weeks ago was the first playoff win for the franchise since 1991. Since then, they have defeated the top two seeded teams in the AFC, the Titans and Chiefs. 

The setting of this game also brings an oddity of its own. It will be in Los Angeles, at the brand new, state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium, which was built in 2020. For as long as the Super Bowl has existed, the game’s location has rotated to different stadiums determined well before the event itself. And never had the host stadium been the home to one of the two contestants (until last year, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won at Raymond James Stadium, where they call home). 

Now, it will happen for the second time ever, and for the second consecutive year.

Of course, the Super Bowl has never been just about the National Football League’s championship, although that may be the principal source of its income. The Super Bowl is a massive commercial event. Companies will once again roll out new commercials, some exclusive to this event, to attract new customers. 

The cost to get a 30-second ad this year? An estimated $6.5 million. The halftime show will also be a major viewing attraction: For the first time since 2004, more than two separate artists will attend. The five artists performing this year are Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. 

Last year’s Super Bowl reportedly had poor ratings as well. With just 96.4 million viewers, it failed to break the 100 million mark and was the least-viewed Super Bowl since 2007. That was a shock, with Mahomes and Brady going head-to-head. With a less marquee matchup this time around, we will have to see if attendance can rise back up.