The Super Bowl is the last properly unifying event in the US

From the epic commercials to the celebrity gossip to the flight paths of the private planes transporting NFL players, Super Bowl Sunday is an unusual time in the newsroom, writes Dave Maclean

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrates after they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL Super Bowl 56 (AP)

After a weird Covid-curbed Super Bowl in 2021, America’s biggest sporting spectacle returned with full force this year – and it is jaw-dropping how powerful a news event it still is.

As a Brit, I find there isn’t really anything quite like it back home. There is no sporting event that the whole nation stops for. You could, perhaps, liken the impact to England playing a World Cup semi-final… every year.

But as a cultural event, it’s even bigger: ad slots are priced at $7m for 30 seconds; major stars appear in sprawling big-budget commercials; the half-time show nearly always marks an iconic moment in music; there’s drama in the stands among the celebrity guests. Even if you took away two rival teams competing for the Lombardi Cup, you’d have enough to report on for hours on end. It’s become so commonplace to watch the Super Bowl “for the commercials” that even the commercials talk about watching the Super Bowl for the commercials.