Allegiant Stadium during NFL football Super Bowl 58 opening night on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas. The San Francisco 49ers face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58 on Sunday.Adam Hunger/The Associated Press
The stage is set for the 58th Super Bowl, just days away, as the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers get ready to battle it out for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Las Vegas. And if football isn’t your only reason for watching, Usher will be taking centre field as the headliner of this year’s halftime show.
Here’s what you need to know about how to watch Sunday’s game, the teams that are playing and whether Taylor Swift is expected to make an appearance to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce.
When and where is the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl 58 will be held on Sunday, Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, marking the first time the venue has hosted a Super Bowl. This is also the first time in NFL history that a Super Bowl will be played in the state of Nevada.
Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers (L) and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs meet on stage during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 5.Chris Unger/Getty Images
Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will battle it out for the Vince Lombardi trophy – in a rematch of Super Bowl 54 in 2020.
The Kansas City Chiefs have made three trips to the Super Bowl in four years from 2020 to 2023, winning last year’s trophy. This year, the team could become back-to-back champions for the first time in their history. If they win, they’d be the first team in 19 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes has become the face of the league, a record-breaking crossover star who is chasing his third Super Bowl ring. Coach Andy Reid has evolved into their mustachioed father figure, and a shoo-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as he climbs the coaching career wins list. And then there’s tight end Travis Kelce, who happens to be dating pop icon Taylor Swift.
As for the San Francisco 49ers, coach Kyle Shanahan is looking for his first ever Super Bowl ring after seven years in charge. Meanwhile, quarterback Brock Purdy has risen from underdog status, shedding the nickname of “Mr. Irrelevant” after being the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He has been the only rookie quarterback to beat a team led by Tom Brady in a starting debut.
Who’s performing at the Super Bowl halftime show?
Usher will headline this year’s halftime show, which is hosted by Apple Music. It won’t be his first time performing at the Super Bowl though. He previously made a guest appearance with headliner Black Eyed Peas during the 2011 Super Bowl.
The R&B singer has not released his setlist for Sunday’s 13-minute concert, or said whether he will have any special guest appearances. But he recently told Good Morning America that the halftime show will pay tribute to the Black artists who paved the way before him.
“I think about what our country has kind of represented for Black artists, you know, having to at some point go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience, but they had to leave back through that same door, fear for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing,” Usher said. “So I’m coming through the front door with this one.”
Country music singer Reba McEntire will perform the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, ahead of the big game. Post Malone will also perform at the pre-show, singing America The Beautiful. Grammy-winning artist Andra Day will sing Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as the Black national anthem.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift walk together after an AFC Championship NFL football game between the Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 28 in Baltimore.Julio Cortez/The Associated Press
Taylor Swift is scheduled to do four shows in Tokyo this week as part of The Eras Tour, but is expected to make it to Las Vegas to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce and his team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Japanese Embassy in Washington sent a message on X, formerly Twitter, alluding to her hit songs in bold letters. “Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, the Embassy can confidently Speak Now to say that if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins,” it said.
???????? Statement from the Embassy of Japan on Taylor Swift’s Reported Travel from Japan to the United States ✈️???? Are you ready for it? pic.twitter.com/wFKadehTJk
Taylor Swift is also expected to be the subject of many bets made during the Super Bowl evening. Sport betting sites in Ontario are allowing fans to place “proposition bets” – for the first time since sports betting was legalized in the province in 2022 – on things such as how many times she’ll show up on TV during the game or if Travis Kelce will propose to her on the field after the game.
These sorts of bets, however, aren’t allowed in the United States since rules vary from state to state. The general rule is that wagering is limited to what happens on the field (i.e. game results, player stats and more).
Super Bowl week opened on Monday (February 5) night with a sensory-overload spectacle at the Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium, and a sprinkling of a music superstar.
Reuters
Where can I stream or watch the Super Bowl in Canada?
You can watch this year’s Super Bowl on either CTV or TSN in Canada. CTV’s pregame coverage begins at noon ET and the game coverage starts at 6 p.m. ET. You can also stream the game on CTV.ca, TSN+ or the CTV app, as well as on DAZN.
Canadians with an over-the-air antenna who live near the Canada-U.S. border may also be able to pick up the game broadcast on Buffalo’s WIVB-TV channel, an affiliate of CBS – and potentially watch all of the American Super Bowl commercials.
Where can I watch this year’s star-studded commercials?
The highly anticipated commercials that debut during the Super Bowl every year, often featuring celebrities, won’t be included in Canadian broadcasts. This has been the case since a 2019 Supreme Court ruling blocked U.S. ads from being played in Canada. The ruling, according to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, also stated that U.S. ads may be aired only if the company buys the advertising time on Canadian channels.
That being said, Canadians can still catch the full list of flashy, expensive commercials online. Most advertisers release their ads in the days ahead of the big game on YouTube or their social media pages to get the most publicity for their spots. Advertisers from Doritos to Volkswagen are paying as much as US$7-million for a 30-second spot during this year’s game.
In the teaser trailers released so far, Kris Jenner takes viewers back to the mid-2000s and her decision to join the reality television realm for Oreo, Post Malone continues his role as the face of Bud Light, Lionel Messi tries to impress Ted Lasso’s Jason Sudeikis for Michelob, Jenna Ortega will reveal a spicy Dinamita chip for Doritos, and Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, David and Victoria Beckham all star in an “unforgettable” ad for Uber Eats.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
