It’s the 49th annual super bowl this weekend and the New England Patriots will be taking on the Seattle Seahawks at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. For anyone who has missed the last 48 super bowls, it’s an American football match that’s played annually and is one of the most watched sporting events in the world!
Some ‘need to know’ facts about the Super Bowl:
- The Super Bowl is always played on a Sunday and the day is aptly referred to as ‘Super Bowl Sunday’…very clever!
- In 2014, Super Bowl XLVIII became the most-watched show on American TV….ever! With an audience of over 111.5 million people
- Because so many people are watching the Super Bowl, companies will fork out around $4.5 million for a 30 second commercial!
To get to know this year’s teams a little better we’ve searched our library of over 50 million images to bring you the best of New England and Seattle. By this point you’ve probably seen hundreds of photos of this year’s players, performers and stadium, so we’ve taken a different approach…Time to get patriotic!
The New England Patriots
New England is a region in the NE corner of the US and is made up of six states – Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The Patriots are based in the Greater Boston area so here are our 5 favourite things about Boston.
1. The Boston Fish Pier
The pier opened in 1914 and is the oldest working fish pier in the whole of the United States… they also host an annual seafood festival every summer. Yum!
2. Boston Common
‘The Common’ is just one of the many public parks in Boston and is actually the oldest city park in the United States. We love a little slice of history.
3. Boston Marathon
On Patriots day (the 3rd Monday of April) Boston host their annual marathon, it’s the world’s oldest annual marathon…we’re starting to see a pattern here! When it first started in 1897 there were just 18 people running but now the event attracts more than 30,000 runners every year.
4. The New England Patriots
Of course one of our favourite things about Boston is the New England Patriots. This is their 8th time in the Super Bowl and they’re one of the most successful teams in NFL history.
5. The New England Patriots Cheerleaders
What would a football team be without its cheerleaders? Known simply as the ‘Patriots Cheerleaders’ the squad has 27 members and has been going since 1977… Gooooo Patriots!
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle is located on the west coast and is the largest city in Washington State. Here are our 5 favourite things about Seattle.
1. The Coffee
Seattle is famous for its coffee and was home to the first ever Starbucks. It’s nearly impossible to walk down the street in Seattle without walking past at least one coffee shop and you can even get your coffee delivered!
2. The Space Needle
The Space Needle is a famous observation tower in Seattle and its observation deck is 520 ft in the air and is the home of the rotating SkyCity restaurant. You can get to the top of the needle in an elevator in just 41 seconds…no excuses not to give it a go (except vertigo).
3. Discovery Park
The largest city park in Seattle, Discovery Park boasts some incredible history. It was built on the historic grounds of Fort Lawton and is home to the West Point lighthouse. The park is made up of forests, beaches and prairies and there’s plenty of wildlife to see…what more could you ask for?
4. The Seattle Seahawks
Everyone loves a winner and with 27 victories and just 9 losses in the past two years we would definitely class the Seahawks as winners!
5. The Seattle Seahawks fans
The Seahawk fans refer to themselves as the “12th Man” because of the influence they have on the football field, in fact in 2013 the Seahawk fans set the Guinness World Record for crowd noise…
Get more info on this year’s Super Bowl over on the
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