Six of the last eight games have been decided by one touchdown or fewer. Five of those have concluded with just a four-point margin separating the sides.
The tension has never been higher than during Super Bowl XXXIV. The Tennessee Titans needed a touchdown and extra point to take the game to overtime with six seconds left. They fell one yard short on the final play.
Last year, one of Katy Perry's backup dancers, dressed in a shark costume, forgot the routine and went rogue. At that moment, Left Shark was born. The dancer became an internet sensation and helped Perry's show become the most watched in Super Bowl history.
Not all halftime mishaps have been as innocent as a botched dance routine. Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake courted controversy with the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004. Then, in 2012, rapper MIA flipped America the bird while supporting Madonna's show.
In the last three years the Deflategate scandal, a record-breaking defence taking on their offensive counterparts and the Harbowl, which pitted brothers Jim and John Harbaugh against each other, have driven the Super Bowl's rhetoric.
This year's game will be the first where two top picks in the NFL draft start at quarterback. What's more, the age difference of 13 years and 48 days between the Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning and Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton is the largest ever in the big game.
And how to earn from every quarter
