WASHINGTON — The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sports events in the U.S., with more than 100 million people watching the game.
This year, the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles for the championship. But before the game can begin, the teams have to take care of some important business.
Here’s how the coin toss at the beginning of the game works:
Who gets to call the Super Bowl coin toss? Who is the home team for Super Bowl 2023?
In most NFL games, the visiting team gets to call the coin toss. But because the Super Bowl is played at a neutral site, there isn’t really a visiting or home team. Instead, the home team alternates every year between the AFC and NFC.
This year, it’s the NFC’s turn so the Philadelphia Eagles are the home team.
So that means the Kansas City Chiefs — who play in the AFC conference — will get to make the coin toss call this year.
What does it mean to defer the coin toss?
Whichever team wins the coin toss can pick whether they want to kick or receive the ball to start off the game. But oftentimes, the winning team will let the losing team pick that instead.
When the winning team defers that choice to the other team, it allows them to pick whether they want to kick or receive the ball at the start of the second half. Most teams want to receive the ball at the start of the second half, so they allow the opposing team to choose who starts with the ball when the game begins.
It didn’t always work that way though. It’s only been since 2008 that the NFL started allowing coin-toss winners to defer their choice. Before then, winning coaches elected to receive the ball 99% of the time, according to ESPN. But after the rule change, most coaches usually defer.
Is there a Super Bowl coin toss curse?
While the winner of the coin toss at the Super Bowl might seem to have luck on their side, historically it hasn’t always led to a win for that team.
In the last eight Super Bowls, the team who won the coin toss went on to lose the game. Ironically, that streak started in 2015 at the same stadium where Sunday’s game will take place.
The last team to win the coin toss and the Super Bowl was the Seahawks in 2014.