Super Bowl LXI

SoFi Stadium will host the 61st Super Bowl on February 14, 2027, the ninth time the championship has landed in the Los Angeles area. The Inglewood venue, which opened in 2020 and hosted Super Bowl LVI in 2022, seats roughly 70,000 for football and sits under a fixed translucent roof that shields the game from weather and gives broadcasters a controlled environment for the league's most elaborate production of the year.

The date itself is a scheduling quirk: Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday in 2027, and the game lands inside the three-day Presidents' Day weekend. That combination gives the NFL a rare holiday stretch for its biggest property. The league's marketing machine started early, launching the "Road to Super Bowl LXI" campaign in September 2026 with ESPN personalities promoting the game across the country. ABC affiliates and ESPN have been running "Countdown to Super Bowl LXI" packages since the fall.

Broadcast plans have drawn as much attention as the matchup. Disney, ESPN's parent, will put the game on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney+, plus Spanish-language feeds, and will add a real-time animated "Star Wars Funday Football" alternate telecast produced with Lucasfilm. The halftime show, normally a straightforward announcement, became a news cycle of its own in October 2026 when multiple outlets reported that Jay-Z had chosen himself as the headliner. Commissioner Roger Goodell declined to confirm the pick on October 22, and as of late October no performer had been officially named.

On the field, the 2026 season has already produced a crowded contender picture. The 49ers opened as a top odds favorite after a 6-0 start, with the Bills close behind. The Rams and Chargers, SoFi's two tenants, give the league a natural home-market storyline. The game will air to a U.S. audience that has topped 100 million in recent years, and 30-second ad spots have reportedly sold for more than $7 million. [edit]

Super Bowl LXI exists to stage the NFL's championship game, pitting the AFC and NFC title winners against each other in a single broadcast event. The league pairs that game with a week of media sessions, fan events and hospitality programming that brings visitors to the host region and gives sponsors and broadcast partners a national stage.

For the NFL, the game is also a distribution showcase. The 2027 edition puts the main broadcast on ABC and ESPN, streams it on Disney+, and adds a Star Wars animated alternate telecast aimed at younger and casual viewers. The league and its partners use the week to test formats and packaging that can carry into future seasons. [edit]

The Super Bowl traces back to the 1966 merger agreement between the NFL and the American Football League. The first game was played in January 1967, and the league adopted Roman numerals to keep the championship distinct from the calendar year. LXI is the 61st edition under that system.

Los Angeles has hosted the game eight times before, starting with Super Bowl I at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1967 and including Super Bowl XXXIV at the Rose Bowl in 2000 and Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in 2022. The 2027 game will be the ninth. SoFi, which cost a reported $5 billion to build, opened in 2020 and has become the NFL's flagship West Coast venue, with a fixed roof and a dual-sided video board that hangs above the field.

The run-up to LXI has already produced a string of announcements. In October 2026, ESPN, Lucasfilm and the NFL revealed plans for a real-time animated Star Wars alternate telecast, timed to the franchise's 50th anniversary. Days later, reports that Jay-Z would headline the halftime show spread across sports and entertainment outlets, prompting Goodell to address the speculation without confirming it. The league also announced a new Pro Flag Football Showcase for Super Bowl week and scheduled a media summit for February 2027. [edit]