The 58th Super Bowl kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Central Time this Sunday and will feature a rematch between the San Franciso 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. They last faced off for the NFL championship in 2020.
When is this year’s Super Bowl? Who’s playing? Can Taylor Swift make it? The big questions, answered
Plus, the Star Tribune’s favorite wing joints, pizzeria and appetizer recipes.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 8, 2024 at 6:22PM
This year’s game will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Star Tribune’s Mark Craig has a rundown of key storylines to watch for and a prediction of who will take home the trophy.
Here are five more things to know about Sunday’s big game:
Who’s playing?
The Kansas City Chiefs are making their sixth Super Bowl appearance and the San Francisco 49ers are competing in the Big Game for the eighth time. The Vikings played both teams in October, besting the 49ers in a 22-17 upset and losing to the Chiefs 27-20.
Read full coverage of the Vikings-Chiefs game here
Read full coverage of the Vikings-49ers game here
Kansas City is gunning for its third championship in six years, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. (The franchise has won two Super Bowls and lost two overall.) The offense is also bolstered by Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, who prior to 2023 was better known as tight end Travis Kelce.
San Francisco has claimed five championships, but won its last Super Bowl in 1994. Bill Clinton was president. “Jurassic Park” wasn’t even a franchise yet. What a wild time.
Where can I watch the game?
CBS holds the rights to this year’s show, which means you can catch it over the air on WCCO-TV in the Twin Cities, or stream it on Paramount+. If you subscribe to the service on Amazon Video, you can stream the game there, too.
Who’s performing the halftime show?
Usher is headlining this year’s halftime show, sponsored by Apple Music. It’s also very likely he’ll be joined by Lil Jon and Ludacris to perform the trio’s 2004 hit, “Yeah!” (Why would they be featured in this strange promotional video if they weren’t?)
Reba McEntire is also slated to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of kickoff and Daniel Durant, who appeared in the Academy Award-winning film “CODA,” will perform the anthem in American Sign Language. Post Malone will sing “America the Beautiful” and Andra Day will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Anjel Piñero and Shaheem Sanchez will also perform those tunes, respectively, in ASL.
Will Taylor Swift make it?
Swift is concluding a four-night run of her Eras Tour in Tokyo on Saturday. The Associated Press estimates the flight between Tokyo and Las Vegas to take between 11 and 12 hours. Depending on weather conditions, it could even take 13. Swift’s concert begins at 6 p.m. Tokyo time, which is 17 hours ahead of Las Vegas. The pop superstar spent 3 1/2 hours on-stage during her Minneapolis show.
If she starts her Tokyo engagement on time, that means she’s likely done before 10 p.m. local time, or 5 a.m. in Vegas. If Swift takes off immediately, she’ll arrive in Sin City at 6 a.m. in the worst of conditions, or more than nine hours before kickoff.
But the AP also spotted another hurdle for Swift’s jet to overcome — where can it even park?
The four airports in the area have a combined 475 spots for private planes. All of them are booked. The news organization predicts that Swift’s pilot could drop her off, then park at another airport. And emit about 200,000 tons of carbon in the process.
How to watch like a Minnesotan
The Super Bowl is synonymous with beer and snacks. Here are some of our Taste team’s favorite pizzerias, wing spots and recipes, plus a couple spots you might find the game on the tube:
The Great Pizza Showdown: Twin Cities pizzerias, categorized by style
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