The Super Bowl was created as part of the merger agreement between the National Football League (NFL) and its competitive rival, the American Football League (AFL). After its inception in 1920, the NFL fended off several rival leagues before the AFL began play in 1960. The intense competitive war for players and fans led to serious merger talks between the two leagues in 1966, culminating in a merger announcement on June 8, 1966.

One of the conditions of the AFL-NFL Merger was that the winners of each league's championship game would meet in a contest to determine the "world champion of football". According to NFL Films President Steve Sabol, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to call the game "The Big One". During the discussions to iron out the details, AFL founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had jokingly referred to the proposed interleague championship as the "Super Bowl". Hunt thought of the name after seeing his kids playing with a toy called a Super Ball. The ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The name was consistent with postseason college football games which had long been known as "bowl games". The "bowl" term originated from the Rose Bowl Game, which was in turn named for the bowl-shaped stadium in which it is played. Hunt only meant his suggested name to be a stopgap until a better one could be found. Nevertheless, the name "Super Bowl" became permanent.

After the NFL's Green Bay Packers convincingly won the first two Super Bowls, some team owners feared for the future of the merger. At the time, many doubted the competitiveness of AFL teams compared with NFL counterparts. That perception all changed with one of the biggest upsets in sports history, the AFL's New York Jets defeat of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami. One year later, the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL Minnesota Vikings 23-7 and won Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, the last World Championship game played between the champions of the two leagues. These first four Super Bowls were actually AFL-NFL World Championships at the time. After the merger, they were redesigned as Super Bowls I through IV.

The game has been played annually on a Sunday as the final game of the playoffs, originally early to mid-January when there was a 14 game schedule, but late January or even the first Sunday in February as the current 16 game schedule dictates. (A 17th bye-week has been added for TV exposure.)

Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle is often considered the mastermind of both the merger and the Super Bowl. His leadership guided them into the merger agreement and cemented the preeminence of the Super Bowl.

The winning team gets the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games and 3 of the 5 preceding NFL championships (1961-62, 1965). Following his death in September 1970, the trophy was then named the Vince Lombardi Trophy, first awarded as such to the Baltimore Colts at Super Bowl V in Miami.

Will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 3, 2008. The game will pit the AFC champions against the NFC champions with the winner taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy as the NFL champion.

This is the second time Phoenix has hosted a Super Bowl. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona in 1996. Cowboys’ Cornerback Larry Brown's two interceptions led to 14 second-half points and helped lift the Cowboys to their third Super Bowl victory in the previous four seasons and their record-tying fifth title overall. Brown's interceptions earned him the Pete Rozelle Trophy as the game's MVP.

University of Phoenix stadium, the first in North America to feature a retractable roof and a roll-out grass field, is the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, as well as the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Every four years, the facility will host the NCAA's BCS National Championship football game.

The University of Phoenix Stadium, with its retractable roof and field, is unlike any other stadium in North America, and a marvel of design, engineering, and technology. This multi-purpose facility is located in Glendale, Arizona.

The primary tenants in the stadium include the NFL's Arizona Cardinals and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The 63,400-seat stadium (expandable to 73,000) opened on August 1, 2006 after three years of construction. The ceremonial groundbreaking was held on April 12, 2003.

The first preseason football game was played August 12, 2006 when the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-13. The first regular season game was played September 10, 2006 against the San Francisco 49ers.

The stadium hosted the highest attended soccer match in the state of Arizona on February 7, 2007 when 62,462 fans watched the U.S. National team defeat Mexico, 2-0.

The multipurpose nature of the facility has allowed it to host 91 events representing 110 event days between the dates of Aug. 4, 2006 through the BCS National Championship on January 8, 2007. These events included Arizona Cardinals games; public grand opening tours held August 19 & 20, 2006 (attended by 120,000 people); various shows, expositions, tradeshows and motorsport events; the Rolling Stones concert November 8, 2006; the AIA 4A and 5A state championship games for; an international soccer exhibition match; the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championships; the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2007; and the BCS National Championship January 8, 2007.