When did the Super Bowl become the Super Bowl?

[Crazy Packers Fan]

The football answer is Super Bowl III, when Joe Willie Namath's guarantee made the AFL-NFL merger work, and put both leagues on equal footing going into the merger. But when did it *culturally* become the Super Bowl? The first Super Bowl that I ever watched was Super Bowl XXVIII, and the first I watched the whole way through was XXIX. At that point, the Super Bowl had long been considered the biggest TV event of the year. I'm wondering at what point it got to that point.

Based on my rewatches of all the Super Bowls, I would guess that it was around the time of Super Bowl X that the game became such a cultural phenomenon; I know that by Super Bowl XVI, the game got its highest ratings ever. So I'm thinking somewhere in the mid-seventies. Anyone older and wiser than me have an opinion on this?

[Brian wolf]

In a way, the Super Bowl became a cultural phenomenon thanks to the Dolphins quest for an undefeated season in 1972. Nobody really thought they could do it and only the Packers and Cowboys at that time had went back to back. The oddmakers made the Redskins the favorites. Playing in the LA Memorial Coliseum added to the mystique of the event. The Dolphins should have won 17-0 matching their perfect record. Little Garo brought up some much needed drama but what if Kilmer had hit the receiver(Smith)later in the game instead of the goalpost?

[SeahawkFever]

In a way, the Super Bowl became a cultural phenomenon thanks to the Dolphins quest for an undefeated season in 1972. Nobody really thought they could do it and only the Packers and Cowboys at that time had went back to back. The oddmakers made the Redskins the favorites. Playing in the LA Memorial Coliseum added to the mystique of the event. The Dolphins should have won 17-0 matching their perfect record. Little Garo brought up some much needed drama but what if Kilmer had hit the receiver(Smith)later in the game instead of the goalpost?

I’d have to double check, but I’m pretty sure Super Bowl XI was the last one that was not the highest rated program in the Nielsen ratings for the week it was broadcast. (The sitcom Happy Days beating it out)

[ShinobiMusashi]

Always will be mesmerized by Super Bowl history. This is a great question. They didn't put "Super Bowl" on the poster/program cover until III, always loved the first 2 for not having that just being "NFL vs AFL World Championship Game". I cut the program covers out of the book that come with that silver DVD box set and made a collage poster that is the coolest framed piece I have, just program covers from I to XXVI(it skips XXV since that one was horizontal I put it in it's own little frame and have it on my DVD shelf with some other memorabilia, that is my favorite one).

I had seen other games that I can remember, maybe a 1989 or 90 Bucs/Saints game I remember asking my uncle and getting the low down on what the NFL was as a 4 or 5 year old. But first real game where it clicked for me as a kid and made me want to dive in was Super Bowl XXVI, it was like football wrestlemania to me, I was all about it. Then watched the In Living Color halftime show.

Then my granny got me Super Sunday, the 1991 version that ends with the epic recap of XXV(What Effort! WHAT EFFORT!). I ran that tape to it's death from 92 until 94 when it finally gave out from too many miles. Became a Super Bowl historian all through school could rattle off the results of every Super Bowl the site MVP score and winner/loser by memory it would freak kids and teachers out, especially by high school when internet was in the class and they could check if I was right, it became like an after class game.

I remember being in the 3rd grade in 1993 and sitting down to write down the Super Bowl results with some friends that were quizzing me, I got to the current Super Bowl which had to have been XXVIII and there were still like 10-12 slots on the paper left, so I kept going and tried to predict the future Super Bowls. And I remember telling the guys that was how it would work in the future was that the teams that were awful right now are going to be the dynasties in the future, that was how the pattern worked in NFL history, so 1993 it didn't get any worse than the Patriots and I remember distinctly penciling in like 3 or 4 Pats Super Bowls into the 2000's, possibly some Buccs/Seahawks/Rams too. I would kill to be able to see that sheet of paper now.

To me it seems like the Cowboys-Steelers Super Bowls were the defining ones out of the originals that were just burned into the monoculture of America in 1970's. They seem like the real defining Super Bowls, way before my time, but those games looking back seem to be the ones that put over the idea that this was THE event.

Then if any other I would point to Super Bowl XXIII the 1988 Super Bowl between San Fran and Cincy that took place in January 1989 that went down to the final drive. I think NFL Films hit the nail with the bit in the film about that drive being the moment that the Super Bowl and America had been waiting 23 years for, a hero to take his team on a game winning drive in the Super Bowl to win it all in an amazing game. To me that seemed like the turning point for the whole NFL actually going into 1989 and the 90's. Montana was a god when I was a little kid checking into this stuff and I think that drive got him over to being deity. Also the NFL if you look at all ratings and attendance period something shifted in 1989 going into 1990 and it started to grow even bigger. Whether that was good or bad I don't know.

But by 1989 and on you no longer seen the empty stadiums that you would before during those mid-strike years 82-87, seems like something happened around 89 where even games with bad teams would still pack a stadium. Prior to 89 if teams were bad there were a lot of games to crowds of 30,000 or less, even early season games(it trips me out to see empty Pontiac Silverdome for clips of Lions opening day games at home in 88-89). I think that Super Bowl was a part of it, Montana becoming an even bigger star was definitely part of it(look at the ratings for Super Bowl XXIV and two years later the 49ers vs Giants MNF game). As big as the Super Bowl was in 88-89, I feel like it grew to an even bigger status with that XXIII game and set the stage for XXIV and XXV to be these even larger than life events than the ones before then it seems.

[7DnBrnc53]

I remember being in the 3rd grade in 1993 and sitting down to write down the Super Bowl results with some friends that were quizzing me, I got to the current Super Bowl which had to have been XXVIII and there were still like 10-12 slots on the paper left, so I kept going and tried to predict the future Super Bowls. And I remember telling the guys that was how it would work in the future was that the teams that were awful right now are going to be the dynasties in the future, that was how the pattern worked in NFL history, so 1993 it didn't get any worse than the Patriots and I remember distinctly penciling in like 3 or 4 Pats Super Bowls into the 2000's, possibly some Buccs/Seahawks/Rams too. I would kill to be able to see that sheet of paper now.

That makes a lot of sense. For example, let's go back to 1978. Teams that were at or near the top were the Steelers, Cowboys, and Dolphins. And, the 49ers, Giants, and Bills were at or near the bottom. However, in 1988, the roles were reversed.

[SixtiesFan]

As one who was around back then, Super Bowl III was when the Super Bowl became the Super Bowl. In the pregame buildup, Joe Namath said, "We're going to win. I guarantee it." The Colts were 17-18 point favorites. The Packers winning 35-10 and 33-14 over the Chiefs and Raiders in the first two had some effect.

I can't tell you how much Joe Namath created pre-game publicity. When the Jets won, even though Namath had a good game (not making mistakes was a key), Matt Snell's running and a strong game from the Jet defense was the main factor.

And Earl Morrall, who was the NFL MVP replacing an injured Unitas, had a poor game. Morrall was like Billy Kilmer in Super Bowl VII.

Super Bowl III made Joe Namath the biggest star in sports. He became a cultural figure.