The Making of the Super Bowl : The Inside Story of the World's Greatest Sporting Event

An insider's look at the history of the world's greatest championship from the man in charge

Over 36 years, the Super Bowl has established itself as the most important single-day sporting event on the planet. Watched by more than 800 million viewers, it dominates television ratings year after year. Time magazine called it the "Great American Time Out." The Los Angeles Times declared it to be "New Year's Eve, the Fourth of July, and Mardi Gras rolled into one." And former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle liked to describe it as "the last chapter of a hair-raising mystery. No one would miss it." But how did its greatness come to be?

In The Making of the Super Bowl, Don Weiss, former executive director of the NFL and the man in charge of game-day operations for every Super Bowl played, offers a unique, first-hand glimpse into the history and extraordinary growth of the world's most celebrated sporting event.

The origins of the Super Bowl began humbly on an autumn day in 1966, not on the green grass of the gridiron, but in a New York City boardroom where businesspeople, politicians, and a few ardent football fans battled to bring the world championship to bear. Congress had just passed legislation that would allow the upstart American Football League to merge with the favored National Football League. In a mere 90 days, the respective champions of these rivalrous gangs would clash, settling their bragging rights in a hastily organized affair ambitiously billed as the first "AFL-NFL World Championship Game of Professional Football." But when game day at last arrived, Los Angeles's Memorial Coliseum--where seating had been scaled back to accommodate 93,000 people--was barely two-thirds full. A humble beginning, indeed. And, as everyone had predicted, Vince Lombardi's (NFL) Green Bay Packers easily trounced the (AFL) Kansas City Chiefs. It was not a helluva game, but Super Sunday was born.

In the years that followed, this relatively modest sporting event was transformed into the sports/media/entertainment/marketing extravaganza it is today, and Don Weiss witnessed it all. Throughout this fascinating book, in punchy prose and lavish full-color illustrations, Weiss shares his insider's view of the Super Bowl, making the most of his unique access to league officials, owners, coaches, and players to present an unprecedented behind-the-scenes chronicle of the true story behind our ultimate game.

"The late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once said: 'If Jesus were alive today, he'd probably be at the Super Bowl.' Presumably, Dr. Peale felt that He would want to be among the masses. The Super Bowl draws the masses. After 36 years it clearly has established itself as the most important single-day sporting event in the United States, if not in the world. Of the most-watched television shows in U.S. history, the first 10 are Super Bowls. . . . How did it happen, how did it get so big, and did anyone ever imagine it would get like this? Typically, the answers are usually: I don't know; I have no idea; and no, I didn't. And each one of those answers is dead wrong."
--from the Preface by Don Weiss

The Making of the Super Bowl presents an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look into the fascinating history of Super Sunday, the inner workings of the National Football League, and one man's place in the middle of it all. Former executive director of the NFL and the man in charge of game-day operations for every Super Bowl played, Don Weiss offers a riveting chronicle of the ultimate grudge match, from its humble beginnings in a New York City boardroom through its 36 years of mud and blood on the gridiron to its position of triumph in the hearts of sports fans and the pinnacle of professional sporting achievement.

Not to be missed, you'll find a dazzling full-color photo insert, plus a dizzying rundown of Super Bowl stats--from every game's final score and MVP to the price of the tickets to the half-time entertainment. It's absolutely everything you need to know about Super Sunday, from the inside out.

Don Weiss, former Executive Director of the NFL, and the man who has been in charge of operations for every Super Bowl game ever played.... with Chuck Day, a leading, award-winning journalist and writer who has spent 32 years writing about sports, business, and marketing.