The Super Bowl is one of, if not the, greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, with hundreds of millions of American Football fans watching the culmination of the NFL season each February.
The branding of the single biggest match in the sport holds paramount importance too - few events on the planet carry the same prestige and financial pulling-power as the Super Bowl.
But where did the name 'Super Bowl' actually come from?
Where did the name 'Super Bowl' come from?
Well, incredibly, and somewhat bizarrely, a 1960s toy actually played a significant role in its now iconic re-brand.
A merger between the two previous professional leagues, the AFL and NFL, meant that there was a new addition to the American Football calendar, a championship game between the two winning teams from each conference.
The first was inked in for 1967, and at the time it was simply known as the AFL-NFL Champions Game.
In truth it wasn't a name that was ever going to really capture the imagination of a nation; and neither were a couple of the other suggestions that very nearly got the nod!
'Merger Bowl' and 'The Game' were two viable options that were under consideration before Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt through a somewhat wild card option into the mix... 'Super Bowl'.
What was its origin though, we hear you ask?
Simply put, the first part of the name stemmed from a hugely popular US-based toy at the time, which his children were obsessed with called the 'Super Ball', hence the term 'Super'.
The 'Bowl' element of the name derived from the fact that it was already a popular phrase in the game due to its connection with college football, such as the Rose Bowl venue in Pasadena, California, and the Sugar Bowl - an annual game played in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Hunt's name generation led to him writing a letter to then NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1966, saying, "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon."
The Kansas City Star newspaper subsequently ran with the name before other local and then national media picked up on it too.
The NFL itself didn't quite run with the moniker as quickly, hesitating on making an official decision on the name - very nearly opting to go with the previously referenced, 'Merger Bowl'
However, by the time the third AFL-NFL decider came around in January 1969, 'Super Bowl' had started to stick, with the NFL themselves publicising the end of season showpiece as just that leading up to their annual curtain-closer.
The rest, as they say, is history!
What was the Super Bowl previously called?
For its first two years - in 1967 and 1968 - the 'Super Bowl' was simply known as the 'AFL-NFL Championship Game'.
But by the time the third title decider, following the merger of the AFL and NFL, took place in 1969, the NFL ran with its then new branding 'Super Bowl'.
The name has stuck since and has undoubtedly played a significant role in the event establishing itself as one of the biggest sporting spectacles on planet earth.
You can't imagine 'The Game' or 'Merger Bowl' would have possessed quite as much modern-day pulling power as the 'Super Bowl'.
