Super Bowl LV

Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) Kansas City Chiefs, 31–9. The game was played on February 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, the home stadium of the Buccaneers, marking the first time a team played a Super Bowl in its home stadium. Due to COVID-19 protocols limiting the stadium's seating capacity to 25,000 fans, it was the least-attended Super Bowl.

The Buccaneers' victory was their second and made them one of two teams, along with the Baltimore Ravens, to be undefeated in multiple Super Bowls. They finished the regular season with an 11–5 record and a wild card berth to advance to their second Super Bowl appearance through the guidance of several new acquisitions, most notably 21-year veteran quarterback Tom Brady in his first season away from the New England Patriots. The Chiefs, aided by their top-ranked offense, finished the regular season with a league-best 14–2 record to advance to their fourth Super Bowl appearance and were the defending Super Bowl LIV champions, seeking to become the first repeat champions since the Patriots in 2004.

For the first time under quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs failed to score a touchdown and lost by double-digits, making them the third Super Bowl team not to score a touchdown. They also committed 11 penalties for 120 yards, including a record eight penalties for 95 yards in the first half, most of which were called against the defense. The Buccaneers capitalized on these struggles to take a 21–6 lead at halftime and dominated the remainder of the game. Brady, who also extended his player records for Super Bowl appearances to ten and wins to seven, was named Super Bowl MVP for a record fifth time and was the first to receive the award with multiple franchises. He became the oldest player to receive the honor and win a Super Bowl as the starting quarterback at age 43, breaking additional personal records, while Bruce Arians was the oldest head coach to win the Super Bowl at 68.

The game was televised nationally by CBS. Country music singer Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan performed the national anthem, while the halftime show was headlined by Canadian singer the Weeknd. On television, Super Bowl LV was seen by 91.63 million viewers, the lowest ratings for the game since 2006. Combined with viewership on other platforms, viewership was down by 5% overall in comparison to Super Bowl LIV, but with a 69% increase in average streaming viewership.

Background

Host selection process

On May 19, 2015, the league announced the four finalists for hosting Super Bowl LIII in 2019 and Super Bowl LIV in 2020. NFL team owners voted on these cities on May 24, 2016, with the first round of voting determining the host for Super Bowl LIII, and the second round deciding the site for Super Bowl LIV. In a development not known in advance, a third round of voting was added to select a Super Bowl LV hosting site. Atlanta and Miami were awarded Super Bowls LIII and LIV respectively, removing them from the running for LV. Los Angeles was not eligible for Super Bowl LIII, as their stadium was under construction and would not yet be finished; it was eligible for LIV and LV, and opted to bid only on the latter.

The two candidates were:

• Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida: Tampa had hosted four Super Bowls, the last being Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.
• SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California: Los Angeles had hosted the Super Bowl seven times, most recently in 1993 with Super Bowl XXVII; that game, along with the four prior Super Bowls in the area, was held at the Rose Bowl while the first two Super Bowls in the Los Angeles area were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Los Angeles was originally chosen as the host site for Super Bowl LV in a vote on May 24, 2016. However, due to construction delays, authorities announced that the stadium would not be completed until the start of the 2020 NFL season. On May 23, 2017, NFL owners voted unanimously, with the Rams' approval, to move Super Bowl LV to Tampa. The City of Inglewood instead hosted Super Bowl LVI in 2022.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

As of the start of the 2020 NFL season, the league had forbidden on-field entertainment, such as halftime shows and national anthem performances at games with fans. These elements, which have historically been cornerstones of the Super Bowl entertainment, would have been produced off-site had restrictions remained in place. In case a COVID-19 outbreak forced the postponements of regular season and playoff games, the league stated that Super Bowl LV could have been delayed as far as February 28.

The state of Florida removed capacity restrictions for sporting events in October, although the three Florida-based teams have voluntarily maintained 20–25% capacity limits. As of late October 2020, the NFL was planning a minimum attendance of 20% of capacity, in hopes that a larger capacity would be possible by game day.

On January 22, 2021, the NFL had originally announced that the game would have 22,000 fans in attendance, 7,500 of whom would be health care workers who had received a COVID-19 vaccine, primarily from the Tampa and central Florida region. The NFL also filled in the empty seats by selling 30,000 cardboard cutouts to fans. On February 2, the league increased the expected attendance to 25,000. Super Bowl LV was the least-attended NFL championship game since 1949, where 22,245 attended because of weather.

NFL protocols for the 2020 season required that the closest rows of seats be blocked with tarps to reduce spectator proximity to the field. For the Super Bowl, they were covered with additional LED video boards.

The traditional events held during Super Bowl week were significantly reduced. Capacity at the Super Bowl Experience at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park was limited due to health and safety protocols. Instead of holding practices and participating in media events during the entire week in the Super Bowl host city, the Chiefs flew into Tampa on the day before the game as they had during the regular season (had another NFC team advanced to the Super Bowl instead of the Buccaneers, they would have done this as well). The "Super Bowl Opening Night" festivities on the Monday preceding the game were cancelled and replaced with a virtual media availability.

In March, health officials in Hillsborough County, Florida determined that Super Bowl LV was not a superspreader event. The officials cited 53 cases (out of 14,809 confirmed cases overall in a one-month span surrounding the game) that were traced to official Super Bowl events, three of those being people who attended the game itself; they also noted that unofficial house parties were likely far greater causes of spread during that time span.

Teams

Kansas City Chiefs

As defending Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs recorded an NFL-best 14–2 record in 2020 under eighth-year head coach Andy Reid. Other than a 40–32 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders in week 5, their only defeat was in the final game of the season against the Los Angeles Chargers, when they rested most of their starters because they had already clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. This appearance was the Chiefs' fourth trip to the Super Bowl. They lost Super Bowl I (1967), but won Super Bowls IV (1970) and LIV (2020).

Kansas City's offense ranked first in the NFL in yards (6,653) and sixth in points scored (473). Quarterback Patrick Mahomes made the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season, throwing for 4,740 yards (second in the league) and 38 touchdowns, with only six interceptions, while also finishing the season as Kansas City's second leading rusher with a career high 308 yards and two scores. His main target was Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce, who caught 105 passes for 1,416 yards and 11 touchdowns, making him the NFL's second leading receiver and setting a new league record for receiving yards by a tight end. Pro Bowl receiver Tyreek Hill had 87 receptions for 1,276 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Mahomes also had receivers Demarcus Robinson (45 receptions for 466 yards), Mecole Hardman (41 reception for 561 yards and 360 return yards on special teams), and Sammy Watkins (37 receptions for 421 yards). The team's leading rusher from 2019, Damien Williams, opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns and because his mother had recently been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. In his place, rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire stepped up to fill the void, rushing for 808 yards and four touchdowns, while also catching 36 passes for 297 yards and another touchdown. Tackle Eric Fisher led the Chiefs offensive line, earning a Pro Bowl selection. However, he was forced to miss the Super Bowl after suffering a torn achilles tendon in the AFC championship game. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, a starting guard for the 2019 season, was first NFL player to announce he would not play the season because of COVID-19, instead working as an orderly at a Montreal long-term care facility during the pandemic. On special teams, kicker Harrison Butker made 25-of-27 field goals, including all four of his attempts from over 50 yards.