The Super Bowl is set for Feb. 9 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, LA.
This year's Super Bowl will be Super Bowl LIX, otherwise known as Super Bowl 59. The Roman numeral naming system for The Big Game is unique to the NFL, and has been in place for more than five decades.
Here's a brief background on why the NFL has chosen to count Super Bowls using Roman numerals.
Why does the NFL use Roman Numerals to count Super Bowls and when did it begin?
The Roman numeral system for counting Super Bowls has not been in place since the beginning, but it has been present for more than five decades of championship football. The original idea, according to Kansas City Chiefs historian Bob Moore, can be credited to former Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, who believed that the system was adopted to delineate between the regular season being played in one calendar year, with the Super Bowl being played in another.
For example, a majority of this football season was played in the fall of 2024, but the playoffs and Super Bowl are taking place in January and February of '25.
The system was officially put into place in 1971 beginning with Super Bowl V (5). It's been in place ever since. However, there is one exception. Super Bowl 50, which took place in February of 2016, did not use Roman numerals. This is the only Super Bowl since '71 that has not had Roman numerals used in the official record books.
Breakdown of Super Bowls by Roman Numerals (Conversion Chart)
Below is a table of Roman numerals vs. Arabic numerals of Super Bowls, based on how the NFL has officially recorded the list historically. As mentioned, Roman numerals were put into place beginning with Super Bowl V.
More of the Latest Around the NFL
This article was originally published on www.si.com as What Number is the Super Bowl This Year? A Brief Explainer .
