Who wins the Super Bowl LIV in 2020?

Super Bowl LIV: We’re just days away from the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami. 

This year, the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs have been dominant and clawed their way to the grand finale. And in a few days, these two teams will clash in one of the year’s biggest sporting events. 

But before we wrap up the season, let’s take a closer look at the NFL and these two teams.

How the NFL came about

The National Football League, or the NFL, was founded back in 1920. Initially, there were ten teams from four states, and the organisation became the first professional football league to establish a nationwide presence in the US. 

During the two following decades, the NFL became a more formal organisation. As a result, more teams joined the league, and in 1933 the first official championship was held. After World War II the organisation went through a number of changes, and by the late 50s, the NFL was quickly becoming the most popular sports league in the US.

In the 1960s, the American Football League, or AFL as it’s mostly referred to, was founded. The organisation became a very successful rival to the NFL and forced a merger between the two leagues. This resulted in a significantly expanded league and the creation of the Super Bowl. 

How the NFL Conference and Playoffs work

Today, the Super Bowl is the most-watched annual sporting event in the US. 

In total, there are 32 teams in the league. And out of these 32 teams, only the Arizona Cardinals (previously the Chicago Cardinals) and the Chicago Bears (formerly known as the Decatur Stayleys) are the only original members left. 

The NFL regular season starts the week after Labour Day, which is always celebrated on the first Monday of September in the US. The first game is played on a Tuesday night and is usually a home game for the defending champions. After that, there will be games every Monday, Tuesday and Sunday throughout the season.

The 32 teams are split into two conferences – the NFL Conference and the AFL Conference. Each Conference has 16 teams divided into four divisions, and there are four teams in each division. And each team plays its three division rivals two times in a regular season. Every team plays 16 games, and the rest of the games are made up of six other opponents from the team’s own Conference, and four opponents from the other Conference.

The Playoffs are then made up of six teams from each Conference, resulting in a total of 12 teams. This stage of the season consists of eight division-winners and the two best teams who didn’t win their division from each Conference. These are known as Wild Card teams.

The first round is called the Wild Card round. At this stage of the competition, two division winners from each conference face off against the wild card teams.

Next up is the Divisional Round, where the top two seeds in each Conference take on a winning team from the previous round. The four winning teams advance to the Conference Championships where they compete for a place in the Super Bowl.

This year’s Super Bowl

The AFC and NFL settle the score in the Super Bowl. With an average viewership close to 100 million viewers in the US alone, this is a major sporting event. 

The Super Bowl is a show in the very sense of the word, as there are always superstars putting on live performances. This time, we’ll get to see Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform. 

This year, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers battle for the championship title. Both teams have been dominant this season, and in a few days, they go head-to-head at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium. This finale is an exciting match-up as there is quite a significant discrepancy between these two teams as far as Super Bowl experience is concerned.

With 74 played seasons, the San Francisco 49ers is a slightly more experienced team than the City Chiefs. Despite having joined the organisation just four years before the City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers have played 14 more seasons. Furthermore, they’ve made it to the playoffs on 54 occasions and won five championships. The team has also made it to the Super Bowl seven times.

The Kansas City Chiefs have been around since 1960, and over the years, they’ve played 60 seasons. So far, the team has made it to the playoffs 31 times and played in the Super Bowl three times. The team has won two championships so far.

This season, these two teams have made it to the grand finale, where they’ll do their utmost to get their hands on the coveted Lombardi Trophy. If you want to tune in, the game takes place on the 2nd of February at 23:30 GMT.