There’s no real “home” team or “away” team in the Super Bowl in the traditional sense, but the league still assigns each side one of those designations. Today, we explain how the league chooses which team gets the “advantage” of being the home team for the biggest sporting event of the year.
How Does the NFL Choose the Home Team in the Super Bowl?
Of course, the “home” team doesn’t refer to the team whose stadium actually hosts the Super Bowl. Only one team has ever made the big game when its stadium was set to host — the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55 in Raymond James Stadium.
The NFL designates a “home” team each year on a rotating basis based on the conference. For example, last season, the Cincinnati Bengals “hosted” the Los Angeles Rams, as it was the AFC’s turn to sport the home team in Super Bowl LVI.
This season, the NFC gets the home squad, so the Philadelphia Eagles are the home team, leaving the Kansas City Chiefs as the away unit.
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As the home team, The Birds get the privilege of choosing their jersey color, while the Chiefs are left selecting a contrasting outfit. Kansas City, on the other hand, will get to call the coin toss as away teams traditionally do in every NFL game.
The Eagles announced that the team will be wearing its “Midnight Green” jerseys. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Co. will be sporting their white jerseys.
The superstitious NFL fan may find it interesting that the Eagles selected to wear their green jerseys, as the Super Bowl team donning white has won 36 of 56 times, a nearly 64% rate. That said, the Eagles were sporting green when the team took down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52.
And as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Just don’t remind your fellow Eagles fan that Philly was the away team in that contest.