The circus like atmosphere revolving around the two weeks leading up to the big game is something to be seen. Who says you need a compelling match up for this spectacle. I mean, the annual game falls just short of being considered a national holiday.  The Super Bowl commands the highest ad rates for the year checking in at up to 2.6 million a spot for Super Bowl XLI. With advertisers spending tons of cash on spots where they can command so many eyeballs, their efforts for entertaining ads are well known. Luckily for us iFilm has managed to wrap all of this year’s Super Bowl ads (as they have done in years past) in a nice package for us. They even have an archive for the Super Bowl ads of previous years. I still laugh out loud (yea, I spelled it out) every time I watch a Terry Tate spot.

If you think you can watch the game on your old analog tube set, well you’re just living in the 90s. This year’s game is generating a huge spur in sales of  new sets estimated at 1.4 million for the game. I think the average person see’s the benefits of HDTV and what better excuse to get that new plasma, dlp or lcd than the Super Bowl? I know I’ll be enjoying it on my tv. Have you heard that more women are the victims of domestic violence the day of the Super Bowl than any other day of the year? That is one of numerous urban legends that revolve around the game.

Another staggering statistic is that the Super Bowl is the most wagered on sporting event in the US. There are some sites dedicated to the betting component of sports and this is their biggest day. There will be an estimated 6 billion dollars worth of bets placed across a smorgasbord of options from company office pools to tons of in game stats to the wacky. Merchandisers are also cashing in on roughly 100 million in spending. Grocery stores get a surge in sales from people hosting parties. Walmart’s sales have been pretty accurate in predicting the winner for the last several years. Another less accurate method has been video game maker Electronic Arts simulation run each year which pits the two teams to play against each other using the Madden NFL game. One thing the video game can’t offer is the spectacular half time shows that are orchestrated each year which of course brought us the most infamous wardrobe malfunction of all time.