Tonight is the big night for NFL fans all round the world as the Super Bowl 50 takes over the World. It’s also the night where many people will be expected to know all about America’s favourite sport like they’ve been hooked all season. Fear not, we here at ScreenCritics know this feeling all too well and have compiled all the things you need to know about tonights big game. Who’s playing? Where to watch? Whats the half-time show? Follow us as we give you all the answers to cheat your knowledge of NFL comings and goings.

Who’s taking part?

The Denver Bronco’s vs. The Carolina Panthers

 

Who’s Taking Home the Trophy?

In theory it’s a pretty straightforward bet that Carolina Panthers are taking home the gold. They ended the regular season with only one loss to their name and have Cam Newton at Quarterback – the kind of workhorse that makes the rest of the team purr.

But the Bronco’s have their own story to tell. They haven’t bee quite as impressive and are anchored by Peyton Manning – a 39 year old quarterback who’s form has been than stellar over the season. But they beat the New England Patriots en route to the final thanks to some immense defence which will take some unlocking from the Panthers.

At the time of winning their respective Conference games; the odds for each team were;

Carolina Panthers 5/9

Denver Broncos 6/4

 

 

Where can I watch it?

In the UK it’s the BBC that’s showing it this year – over on BBC2 at 22:50(GMT). In the US it’s CBS that’s your port of call!

 

 

Can we see the adverts?

Sadly not in the UK. The BBC are sticklers for cutting them out and there’s very little reason to suspect that that will change this year. Best keep Youtube handy. As for CBS, those ad slots are reported to be going for $5m per 30 seconds – truly eye watering amounts!

 

What time does the game actually start?

The game starts at around 23:30(GMT).

 

 

Where is Super Bowl 50 being held?

At the Levi’s Stadium (Where Wrestlemania 31 was held last April!). It’s the home of the San Francisco 49ers.

 

Who’s performing the half-time show?

That would be Coldplay this year. They’ll have their work cut out if they want to beat Katy Perry’s performance from last year which had some meme-worthy sharks.

 

Where did all the other teams go?

The NFL has 32 teams which get eliminated when the league portion of the season ends (That’s back on 3rd January).

The Wildcard Round came next (Basically where the best losers get a second chance) and in that round the Houston Texans, Minesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins all said goodbye.

The Divisional Round saw the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and Pittburgh Steelers all exit proceedings.

In the AFC and NFC Championship games we said goodbye to the New England Patriots and Cardinals.

 

What’s an AFC and NFC?

The NFL is divided into two conferences; the NFC and AFC. These conferences comprise of 4-four team regional divisions. The winners of all of these (8 teams in total) move onto the Divisional Round as well as the two teams from each conference with the next-best overall record.

The remaining eight teams fight it out in the Wild Card Round; where the four winners progress to the Divisional Round and meet up with the teams that progressed earlier. After this we hit the Championship Games – where the winners from the Divisional Round face off for the chance to go to the Super Bowl as their Conference’s champion.

Long answer short – both teams are champions of their conference and the Super Bowl is where the two duke it out to be called the best.

 

So it’s Super Bowl 50?

Yes or ‘Super Bowl L’ – but for marketing reasons the L was deemed too silly and so they revered back to the 50 – something that hasn’t happened in 45 years. Next year’s is the ‘Superbowl LI’ and will be held in Houston, Texas.