Super Bowl LIX: A Look Back at the First Super Bowl
Super Bowl LIX is set to take place on Sunday, February 9, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The game has evolved into one of the most-televised programs in history, with thousands of fans shelling out an excessive amount of money to travel and attend the game, which is sold out each year.
However, this wasn’t always the case. The first Super Bowl, Super Bowl I, was played on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and it was not as crowded as you may think. The game was not sold out, with more than 32,000 of the stadium’s 94,000 seats left empty. A $12 ticket seems unimaginably low now as people dish out thousands to catch the championship game, but in the ’60s, many complained about the high ticket prices.
The first-ever Super Bowl was played by the Green Bay Packers, the National Football League champion, and the Kansas City Chiefs, the American Football League champion. The Packers came out victorious in Super Bowl I against the Chiefs, 35-10, led by legendary head coach Vince Lombardi. The Super Bowl trophy was later named after the coach.
The halftime score of Super Bowl I was tight, with the Packers holding a 14-10 lead over the Chiefs. The Chiefs were able to score one touchdown that game, and it came in the second quarter on a pass to Curtis McClinton. After halftime, Green Bay built its lead and won 35-10.
The quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl I was Len Dawson, who lost the first Super Bowl but won a Super Bowl win with the Chiefs in Super Bowl IV. Dawson’s many awards during his time in the NFL included the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 and died on August 24, 2022, at the age of 87.
The halftime show of Super Bowl I featured the University of Arizona Marching Band and the Grambling State University Marching Band, as well as the Anaheim High School Ana-Hi-Steppers Drill Team and flag girls. Since that first game, the Super Bowl halftime show has become an enormous production in which many legendary performances have taken place.