How is the Super Bowl's home team determined? The resolve of the host team to win the Super Bowl is nothing fancy. Every year, the AFC representative is replaced by the NFC representative, and vice versa. The Chiefs won Super Bowl 54 as the home team a year ago.
By law, the host team will be the one that wins the most recent season between the two. If they're tied, it's resolved in what's called a "Super Bowl Salute." Each year, one owner from each team selects a player from another team as his or her opponent. The player they select becomes their opponent for the following year's Super Bowl. This player is given a gold jacket with "Salute" on the front of it. At the end of the season, the player gets to choose which year he or she would like to be the saluted player. If they don't want to do it, then the selection is made for them by a committee composed of members of both teams' ownership groups.
In other words, if the Chiefs and Patriots were to meet again in 2019, the Patriots would have to play the role of visiting team because New England lost last year's Super Bowl to Kansas City. That's how significant of a deal it is to be the visiting team at Super Bowl LIV.
Last year, the AFC was chosen as the home team in Super Bowl LIV, allowing the Chiefs to wear their home uniforms. They also received the home locker room in Hard Rock Stadium as a result of this. The NFC is the designated home team this year. However, both teams will be wearing their away uniforms for the game.
Kansas City has had one of the most successful football programs in history, with 12 NFL championships and 13 conference titles. The city's Arrowhead Stadium is known for its unique atmosphere that includes fireworks and an orchestra that plays during key moments in the game.
The Chiefs have won two Super Bowls - 1969 and 1973 - and came close to winning a third title in 1974. Owner Clark Hunt bought that season's championship trophy back from the police because his players were going to jail, he said. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that victory party at Arrowhead Stadium; it was also the first Super Bowl played in Kansas City.
After their last title in 1973, the Chiefs haven't been back to the playoffs until this year when they made it to the Divisional Round after defeating Pittsburgh 24-14 in double overtime at home. It was the first playoff win for head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes II. This year's edition of the Super Bowl features the same two teams that met in the Wild Card Round.
The two divisional playoff teams from each conference then face in the corresponding AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, which are hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral venue, the designated host club is determined by a conference-wide rotation. The host club for the Super Bowl is guaranteed to be one of the two top remaining clubs by virtue of winning their conference. If there is a tie between number 1 and 2 in each conference, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition: The team with more wins during the regular season receives the #1 seed.
In 2014, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-20 to claim their third Super Bowl title.
The home team will be named "the quarterback" for the game and will receive the opening kickoff. In addition, if the hosting team is from the National Football League, then its primary announcer will call all plays during the game. Otherwise, the referee calls the plays himself or herself.
If the Super Bowl is being played in a cold climate, such as Minnesota or Pittsburgh, then ice players may be used during pregame activities and during halftime. These ice players are called "Sundaes".
There is also a tradition called "Super Bowl Shuffle", where each year's Super Bowl host city selects one local group to perform at the game.
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