Fun Super Bowl Facts and Figures

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We realize, of course, that the numbers you and other Super Bowl XLVIII fans most care about are the ones on the scoreboard at the end of the game.

Perhaps the second most important numbers — especially to fans sitting in MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J,, watching the game live — will be those on the thermometer when the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks go head-to-head. This is the first Super Bowl ever held outside in a cold-weather state.

So, those are the important numbers. Let’s look at some other, not-so-important but entertaining or amusing Super Bowl figures and facts.

  • Peyton Manning will be taxed. By New Jersey, that is, as will others who play in the Super Bowl because of New Jersey’s “jock tax.” It’s complicated, a guest poster on Forbes explains, and based on whether Manning wins or loses and whether he plays again next year. The post says:

If Manning is able to play next season, his New Jersey income tax would be $46,989 on [a] $92,000 [bonus] for winning the Super Bowl, or 51.08 percent. If they lose and he is able to play in 2014, he will pay New Jersey $46,844 on his $46,000 [bonus], which amounts to a 101.83 percent tax on his actual Super Bowl earnings in the state — and this does not even consider federal taxes.

  • If this trend continues, Seattle will win. The folks at mortgage and consumer loan information website HSH.com wrote:

After the first round of the NFL playoffs concluded early in the month, we noticed that the city with the highest mortgage rate won each matchup. That being the case, we decided to create a bracket and pick the winner of the Super Bowl based off which city had the highest mortgage rate. Our “winner” is the Seattle Seahawks.

  • You bet! We all know that a lot of bets are made on the Super Bowl. Here’s some scoop about past years from The New York Times:

Nevada sports books have made money in 21 of the last 23 Super Bowls, with an average win of $5.5 million the past 10 years.

Their biggest win came in 2005, when the underdog Eagles, covering against the Patriots, earned Nevada books $15.4 million.

Their biggest loss came in 2008, when the Giants upset the Patriots, costing the books $2.5 million.

Their only other loss came in 1995, when the 49ers crushed the Chargers to the tune of $396,000.

  • Wing it. The National Chicken Council says Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest wing-eating day of the year in the U.S. The council predicts that 1.25 billion wings will be consumed during the game this year. It also says:

To put that into perspective, if 1.25 billion wing segments were laid end to end, they would stretch from CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash., to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., (home of Super Bowl XLVIII) … 30 times. That is enough wings to put 572 wings on every seat in all 32 NFL stadiums.

  • Booming pizza sales. Domino’s says it “sells more than 11 million pizza slices on Super Bowl Sunday, nearly 80 percent more than a typical Sunday.” The biggest pizza sales days for the chain, after Super Bowl Sunday, are Halloween, New Year’s Eve/Day and Thanksgiving Eve.
  • Ads add up. Advertisers are reportedly paying $4 million for a 30-second spot shown on Fox during the game.
  • We’ve already told you about the crazy tickets prices.

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