On Sunday, January 28th, the NFL featured four teams facing off in the semifinals for a chance to play in the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers competed against the Detroit Lions in a home game victory with a final score of 34-31, while the Kansas City Chiefs played the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, where the Ravens fell to the Chiefs 17-10. The NFC champion 49ers will face off against the AFC champion Chiefs in Super Bowl 58.
As the clock ticked down to zero, Detroit Lions fans and Baltimore Ravens fans couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with a sense of sadness and despair as they watched their teams be defeated by the San Francisco 49ers and the defending champion Chiefs, losing their potential spots in Super Bowl 58. The Chiefs and the 49ers are set to face off at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada on February 11th, 2024, in hopes of winning the title of Super Bowl champions.
While the Super Bowl is an event in American sports history celebrated and spectated by Americans nationwide for decades, it won’t be surprising if many families around the country choose not to watch the game this year. The Detroit Lions had an incredible season, going 12-5, leading the NFC North division, and making it all the way to the NFC championship game for the first time in 32 years. Going into the playoffs, the Lions were an underdog team not expected to make it as far as they did. When people saw that they had a shot at winning the title of NFC champions and advancing to the Super Bowl, fans of different teams around the league didn’t hesitate to cheer on this renewed Lions team. Other than fans of the Super Bowl qualifiers, people have become tired of seeing the two powerhouse teams make it to the playoffs and dominate all other teams in the league, so the desired outcome was for the Detroit Lions to play against the Baltimore Ravens in the final game. If the want for a new champion wasn’t enough for fans to root for Detroit and Baltimore, the presence of Taylor Swift may have also had an effect on Super Bowl wishes.
For those unaware, the star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce, is in a relationship with the pop icon, which has increased the Chiefs fanbase tenfold due to fans of Taylor Swift now tuning in to watch Kansas City games in hopes of seeing Ms. Swift on TV or at the Chiefs stadium. While this may seem like a good thing for profits and viewer rates, it has become somewhat annoying for NFL fans, as they can barely watch any game that Taylor Swift attends because the camera crew focuses the attention on her every time she does something as simple as standing up to cheer for her team. While it is always a special occasion anytime a celebrity shows up to attend a sporting event, it becomes bothersome whenever a celebrity has all of the attention focused on them rather than the game being played. It’s because of this that the singer has attracted undeserved hate from diehard football fans who are in it for the game rather than the other aspects surrounding it. With the Super Bowl around the corner, it is expected that the hate for Taylor Swift and the Chiefs will be amplified to an even higher degree, and a Chiefs victory will guarantee an increased level of hatred.
With this in mind, Super Bowl 58 is set to take place in Allegiant Stadium, located in Paradise, Nevada. The stadium is home to the Las Vegas Raiders, and the game will take place on February 11th. The game will be broadcasted on CBS, Paramount+, YouTube TV, and the FOX network. The 49ers are looking for their 6th Super Bowl victory, and the Chiefs are looking to defend their title from the challengers. The Chiefs are favored to win, but anything’s possible in football; fans will just have to wait and see who will come out victorious. Will a new champion be crowned? Or will the Chiefs remain atop the league for another year?