Here's who's performing in today's Super Bowl pregame show
The Super Bowl pregame show is underway in Glendale, Arizona.
In addition to Rihanna’s highly anticipatedhalftime show performance, a number of additional Hollywood heavyweights are joining the major sporting event as pre-show performers.
The NFLannouncedon Tuesday that Emmy-winning actor Sheryl Lee Ralph will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in the pre-show. The “Abbott Elementary” star notablysang on stagewhile accepting her Emmy award in 2022.
Joining Ralph in the pre-show festivities is Grammy-winning country music artist Chris Stapleton, who has been tapped to sing the national anthem. R&B crooner Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds will also perform, with a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
Each performer will have talent accompanying them to provide American Sign Language on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf, according to arelease from the NFL.
Oscar winner Troy Kotsur will sign the national anthem alongside Stapleton. Kotsurwon a supporting actor Academy Awardin 2022 for his work in “CODA,” becoming the second Deaf person ever to win an acting Oscar after Marlee Matlin.
Last Super Bowl was crypto’s coming out party. This year, the party’s over
From CNN's Allison Morrow
Super Bowl LVIwas the crypto world’scoming out party.Buzzy firms made bold pitcheslast year, and shelled out millions of dollars on ads encouraging viewers not to be afraid of this new-fangled digital investment.
You can expect a lot less noise from Team Crypto during today's Super Bowl LVII telecast.
In the year since those celebrity-packed ads debuted, the entire crypto industry has been rattled by acollapse in digital asset values. Bankruptciesbegan to pile up over the summer.
Then the real pain started.
Of the four crypto or crypto-affiliated companies that advertised in the Super Bowl last year, one (FTX) has collapsed completely. The others (Coinbase, Crypto.com and eToro) have fought against industryheadwinds.Shares of Coinbase, the only publicly traded company in the group, have fallen more than 60% since its“floating QR code” adbecame one of the most talked-about spots.
Don’t expect any of those companies to be back this year. FTX is bankrupt and under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors. The multi-asset trading platform eToro confirmed to CNN it would not be splurging on an ad this year.
Coinbase declined to comment. Representatives for Crypto.com — the company behind the ad featuring LeBron James telling his younger self to “call your own shots” — didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Despite what is being called a “crypto winter,” sports advertising remains a crucial avenue for digital curencies, marketing experts say, as their target demographics share significant overlap — sports fans and crypto traders tend to be mostly male and young.
But turmoil in the crypto space means marketers are changing their tactics.
“Crypto firms are focusing less on crypto advertising and more on investing in better user experiences, products, and customer service,” said Silvia Lacayo, head of marketing at crypto exchange Bitstamp US.
Read more about the changing crypto landscape here.
How will Donna Kelce handle her sons' Super Bowl faceoff? "Stand and scream the entire game"
From CNN's Jill Martin
Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will make history Sunday as the first brothers to play against each other in theSuperBowl.
Their mother, Donna Kelce, told CNN “it’s going to be easy” for her when it comes to rooting interests.
“I have to stand and scream the entire game,” she told CNN’s Poppy Harlow in an interview Wednesday. The interview aired Feb. 9 on the show CNN This Morning.
“They’re both on offense,” Kelce continued, “so every time somebody has the ball, I’ll be clapping. Every time somebody gets a touchdown, I’ll be thrilled.”
Asked what she’ll say to the son who ends up on the losing side, Kelce told CNN she’ll go to the losing team’s hotel and “I’ll give my son a huge hug and a kiss.”
“Because there’s nothing that I could say that will mean anything at that point,” Kelce said. “He’s going to be a broken person. He’ll be happy for his brother, but the hours and the months that you put in to get to this point, it’s tough.”
Rihanna says motherhood made her feel like she can "take on the world" ahead of Super Bowl halftime show
From CNN's David Close
Superstar singer Rihanna, who will perform in the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, said she has been so focused on her impending performance that she forgot about her upcoming birthday later this month.
She called the task “incredible” but “almost impossible."
"I've been so focused on the Super Bowl, I totally forgot my birthday is coming up. I totally forgot about Valentine's Day. I am just like, 'Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl.' So, it's a lot of preparation, a lot of moving parts and this week, this is the week that it really is being tested," Rihanna said Thursday.
The singer said everyone involved in the production is in the final tune-up stage. It's a massive undertaking, with as many as three to 400 people setting up and breaking down the stage, all in about eight minutes, Rihanna said.
"It's incredible. It's almost impossible," she said of the feat.
“When you become a mom there is something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world," said the icon and entrepreneur, who recently had a baby. "You can do anything."
"The Super Bowl is one of the big stages in the world, so as scary as that was, because I haven’t been on stage in 7 years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all," said Rihanna, who last toured in 2016. "It’s important for me to do this this year. It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see that.”
Report: Super Bowl parties aren’t breaking your budget this year — but watch out for beer prices
From CNN's Parija Kavilanz
While overall food price inflation is up 11.8% over last year, prices on some popular snack items are down just in time for game day, according to the 2023 Wells Fargo Super Bowl Food Report.
But with beverages, brace for sticker shock on at least one must-have for many people: beer. Beer prices this year have jumped 11% from 2022, while wine and spirits are up 4% and 2% respectively, according to the report.
With that out of the way, here's the good news —
- Wing-lovers rejoice: A pound of chicken wings is down 22% from January 2022 because of reinforced supply. This time last year, the retail price for whole chicken wings was $3.38 per pound, according to the US Department of Agriculture. That price tumbled all the way down to $2.65 per pound by January 2023, according to the Wells Fargo report.
- Grilling? Sirloin steak prices have dropped almost $1 per pound from 2022 Super Bowl prices. So has the price of shrimp, as lower demand helped push down prices by 17% since last year, landing at $3.78 a pound. Adding bacon to your burgers? Good news —those prices are down, too.
- Go crazy with the guac: Avocados are at a bargain. The average retail price for an avocado is down 20% since last year, after a significantsupply glut of the buttery fruittriggered a drop in wholesale prices. That’s awelcome reversal from 2022, when avocado prices surged in the first half of the year after a brief stoppage of imports from Mexico roiled the supply chain and inflated prices.
This year's Super Bowl is the first to ever feature two Black starting quarterbacks
From CNN's Ben Morse
In media appearances leading up to the Super Bowl,Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts have recognized the significance of being thefirst two Black quarterbacksto start in the same Super Bowl.
The matchup comes 35 years after Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start and win in the big game.
For 27-year-old Chiefs quarterback Mahomes — who is looking for his second Super Bowl ring when the two teams face off in Arizona Sunday — the moment of history is “special.”
“I’ve learned more and more about the history of the Black quarterback since I’ve been in this league,” he told reporters.
“The guys that came before me and Jalen set the stage for this, and now I’m just glad we can set the stage for kids that are coming up now," Mahomes said.
Eagles quarterback Hurts — in just his second full season as a starter — is just the eighth Black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. The short list includes a fellow Philadelphia player: Donovan McNabb, who startedSuper BowlXXXIX.
“I think it’s something that’s worthy of being noted and it is history," Hurts said. "It’s come a long way."
Read more here.
Super Bowl snacks: How to make the perfect party roll
From CNN's Elise Hammond
Ingredients
- 1 can pizza crust
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 8oz block mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 pound deli pepperoni
- 1/2 cup spinach
- 1/4 red onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- Buffalo sauce
Get ready:
- Season your chicken breast and cook it in the oven at 400° F for 25-30 minutes. (Leave the oven on at 400° F for the rolls).
- Let the chicken rest for a few minutes and then cut it into small pieces. Set aside.
- Next, cut your block of mozzarella cheese into about 25 slices. Set aside.
- Chop and prep the rest of your veggies — cut the red onion and bell pepper into small, thin slices.
- Drizzle olive oil on an 18x26 baking sheet and evenly coat the pan.
- Take your dough out of the tin and stretch it out to fill the baking sheet. Use your fingers to work the sides.
- Cut the dough into about 20 squares — five squares by four squares across, each side roughly an inch in length.
Making the rolls:
- Start by stretching a square of the dough out with your fingers.
- For the buffalo chicken roll, add cheese in the middle of the square of dough. Then put a splash of buffalo sauce, chicken and red onions on top. For the spinach roll, layer cheese, chicken, spinach and red bell pepper. Layer pepperoni, folded in half, and cheese for the pepperoni roll.
- For each individual roll, stretch the sides of your dough and fold them inward. Then stretch the bottom of the square out and fold up, making sure all of your chicken and cheese is wrapped inside. Flip the entire roll away from you, rolling everything in.
- Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes.
- Take out when they are a golden brown color and serve!
Prop bets: If it happens on Super Bowl Sunday, you can probably wager on it
From CNN's Andy Scholes
Nearly every year, more people watch theSuper Bowlthan any other televised event — and many like to watch with some (pig)skin in the game.
Adults in the US are expected to bet a total of roughly $16 billion on the Super Bowl this year, according to a survey from the American Gaming Association.
Of course, you can wager on the actual scoring and outcome. But when it comes to the Super Bowl, you can also bet on almost anything that has to do with the game, including some truly silly stuff. These are called "proposition bets" or "prop" bets for short.
Here are some of the zaniest prop bets available for Super Bowl LVII:
- Length of the national anthem
- Outcome of the coin toss
- Color of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach
- Will Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid say "burger" during his postgame interview? (This is a callback to his remarks after the Chiefs' 2020 win.)
- Whose ad will run first: Doritos or M&Ms?
- Color of Rihanna's first outfit during the halftime show
- Will Tom Cruise parachute into the stadium and hand-deliver the game ball to the referees? (Yes, seriously.)
Read more about wagering on the Super Bowl, including odds on these silly bets, here.
It's time for football's shiniest showcase. But the NFL has had a rocky season
From CNN's Leah Asmelash
No one questions the NFL's status as the US' most powerful professional sports league, and the Super Bowl is its grand finale —its biggest celebration.
But the league also faces its share of criticism, and a series of events from the last five months has magnified those concerns.
Here’s a look back at some of the most controversial storylines of the season – the ones that might not make an NFL highlight reel:
- Deshaun Watson returned after more than two dozen sexual assault accusations: Over 20 women came forward last year alleging sexual misconduct against Deshaun Watson from his time as the quarterback of the Houston Texans. Watson has apologized for “any pain this situation has caused” but has repeatedly denied the allegations. He served an 11-game suspension, paid a $5 million fine and then returned to play under a new five-year, $230 million deal with the Cleveland Browns — the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history.
- Tua Tagovailoa’s injuries brought new scrutiny to the NFL concussion protocols: Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa faced multiple health scares, including trips in and out of the league's concussion protocols and questions about whether he should have been allowed to return to play when he did.
- Lovie Smith's firing highlighted claims of discrimination against Black coaches: When Lovie Smith was hired as the new head coach of the Houston Texans in February 2022, he became one of two Black head coaches in the NFL. He only lasted a year. For critics concerned with the league's history on race, Smith’s firing was just another example of Black coaches not being given a fair shot.
- Damar Hamlin’s sudden collapse renewed questions about player safety: When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlincollapsed mid-gamelast month against the Cincinnati Bengals, the nation held its collective breath. At the time, many feared Hamlin had died. The Bills later said his heartbeat was restored on the field by team medical staff before he was taken to a hospital. The episoderenewedassertions that the league – whose players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever – has simply become too dangerous.
You can read full details and analysis on each of these controversies here.
