The NFL has released its plan to celebrate this year’s fifty year anniversary of the Super Bowl. The year long celebration will culminate in the game which will be played this year at Levi’s Stadium, the new stadium for the San Francisco Forty Niners. Per the official press release:
NFL Unveils Plans To Celebrate Super Bowl 50
The NFL is launching a year-long celebration of the Super Bowl to commemorate Super Bowl 50, which will be played on Sunday, February 7, 2016 at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area. The plans were announced today at the NFL Annual Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 2015 season will feature a gold thematic signifying the 50th “golden” Super Bowl that will be visible on the field and throughout the season. The 50-yard line numerals and NFL shield logo at every stadium will be gold. Team logos on sideline apparel will have accents of gold and logos for NFL events, including Draft, Kickoff and the Playoffs, will turn to gold.
The NFL unveiled last year the Super Bowl 50 logos that feature “50,” breaking for one year its unique tradition of using Roman numerals to identify that season’s championship game. To commemorate this, the NFL commissioned Tiffany & Co to handcraft the 50. Each number is cast in bronze, plated in 18kt gold and weighs nearly 33 lbs. The gold 50 will appear alongside the Vince Lombardi Trophy all year and will be presented to the Super Bowl champions at the MVP and head coach press conference the morning following the game.
The On The Fifty platform is designed to link the past 49 Super Bowls with this year’s game and honor the teams, players, coaches, fans and communities that have been a part of those games. On The Fifty will come to life in a variety of ways throughout the year:
The Super Bowl High School Honor Roll will recognize the high schools and communities that have contributed to Super Bowl history. High schools will receive a commemorative golden football produced by Wilson for every player or head coach who has appeared in a Super Bowl. Players and coaches will have the opportunity to deliver the golden footballs to their high schools. CBS, which will televise Super Bowl 50 marking the most Super Bowl broadcasts by any network, will feature some of these visits across the various assets of the CBS Corporation. The Honor Roll will become an annual tradition. Following every Super Bowl, every high school that produces a player or head coach in the game will receive a golden football.
The 2015 schedule will feature several Super Bowl rematches, including 19 in the regular season. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game kicks it off in August when the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers face off in a rematch of Super Bowl IX.
Many teams will host Super Bowl Homecomings, inviting their Super Bowl teams to be honored in-stadium on gameday and throughout the weekend. Teams will commemorate Homecomings with Ring of Honor/Hall of Fame ceremonies, recognizing Super Bowl players as honorary captains and featuring special halftime celebrations. Historic Super Bowl marks, customized Homecoming assets and dedicated elements commemorating past Super Bowls will be included in the weekends.
The 43 previous Super Bowl MVPs will be celebrated all season, culminating at Super Bowl 50 when they will be recognized on-field. MVPs will be an integral part of the Super Bowl High School Honor Roll and the Super Bowl Homecoming programs.
Next month, the NFL puts Chicago on the clock as the NFL Draft moves from New York City for the first time since 1964. To kick off the Draft, prospects and former players will walk a gold carpet as they enter the theater. New Era will add a gold shield to the back of the Draft cap that is presented to each player as he walks across the stage in primetime. In addition, a Super Bowl Museum and gold-themed promotions in Chicago will support the On the Fifty celebration.
Starting Week 7 of the season, sideline apparel from Nike and New Era will reflect the celebration. Team logos on select sideline pieces and all caps will be outlined in gold as a connection to On the Fifty. Merchandise that celebrates previous Super Bowls will be available this spring and on-field merchandise will be in stores starting October 15.
As the kickoff to Super Bowl week, the 2016 Pro Bowl, which will be played on Sunday, January 31 in Hawaii, will recognize players who will play the following week in Super Bowl 50 in a variety of ways, including halftime interviews on ESPN. The uniforms worn by the Pro Bowl players will incorporate gold as a connection to the celebration.
For more information about On The Fifty and Super Bowl 50, fans may visit SuperBowl.com.
