Las Vegas hosts the Super Bowl for the first time as the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers meet in the 58th renewal and a repeat of the NFL's decider in 2020, which the Chiefs won on a 31-20 scoreline in Miami.
Sin City has been built on gambling, but the Nevada desert has proven an inhospitable live sport environment for all bar boxing until recently, with the UFC, the expansion of ice hockey’s Vegas Golden Knights, the arrival of the Las Vegas Raiders, the imminent relocation of the soon-to-be Las Vegas Athletics and Formula One now threatening to turn the place into a veritable oasis.
Before a pass was thrown, the Chiefs were the favourites to lift a third Vince Lombardi Trophy in five years.
However, Andy Reid’s charges opened the regular season with a defeat and were supplanted early on at the head of the betting by the 49ers, who’ve remained there.
Wild Card winners at home over the Miami Dolphins, the Chiefs went on the road and scored upset wins over the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game.
As NFC stop seeds, the 49ers should have had an easier path to Allegiant Stadium, but they needed to rely on more than a hint of good fortune to account for the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions in the post-season.
Two-point favourites to win their first Super Bowl since 1995, the 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan have been eager to deflect pressure after a series of near misses in recent seasons.
Shanahan, the son of two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, not only saw his side fall short in Super Bowl LIV four years ago, he’s also suffered reversals in the the NFC Championship decider in two of the last three seasons.
While he boasts a strong overall record in his seven seasons at the helm, Shanahan faced questions in Las Vegas this week about whether another loss would feed a narrative that he could not win the big one.
"I’d deal with that the same as if we win," Shanahan said. "I’d celebrate with my team, my family and then move on with the rest of my life, which is being a father, a son, coaching and working. A narrative, good or bad, is just a narrative.
"When you go into these games, what makes you prepare is you don’t want regrets. You want to do everything that makes sense to myself and to the team.
"When you do that, no matter how hard something is or how good something is, you keep perspective. If you want your perspective to be someone else’s narrative, good luck."
Shanahan has a 72-54 overall record with the 49ers since they gave him his first head coaching job in 2017. But he acknowledged that now, only a Super Bowl win would represent a good season.
"That’s how it boils down for everybody in the NFL," he said. "The only time in a season you’re satisfied without a Super Bowl is maybe the first year if you exceed expectations – that’s the only time if you don’t make the play-offs you don’t feel you’ve completely failed.
"Other than that, if you don’t make the play-offs in this league, no one is happy. If you make the play-offs and lose your last game, no one’s happy. If you get to the Super Bowl and lose the Super Bowl, you’re not happy.
"Only one team is happy at the end of the year. Whether it comes down to the Super Bowl or a play-off game, it’s the same. When you go for the big one it hurts when you get that close because it’s that hard to get there.
"We’re fortunate our team has been able to get here twice. The last one was a tough one.
"We have every opportunity but they made the plays and we didn’t. I think it will be a real tight game this weekend. We’ll see how it unfolds, but I like our chances."
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has gone from being last pick of the 2022 draft - Mr Irrelevant - to taking centre stage.
The 24-year-old, though, intends to play the game rather than get swept up in the occasion.
"There’s a fine line of it for sure," Purdy said.
"Obviously studying and being prepared for every little situation and circumstance and being able to answer those questions right, but also, being able to enjoy the game.
"We are in the Super Bowl. You dream of this as a kid growing up, every kid dreamed of playing in this game."
Purdy told a press conference: "It is a fine line, but man, at the end of the day this is something that we have all dream of growing up. You have to be grateful for it and have fun with it."
Shanahan feels Purdy’s humility is one of his greatest strengths.
"I think that’s the most special thing about Brock – he doesn’t really have to change much because that’s really who he is," he said.
"He’s one of the most humble people I’ve ever met. I’ve talked about the solid foundation he has for who he is.
"When he came into the league, being the third quarterback, being the starter, what he has done this year, he is still the same guy he was on day one."
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The Chiefs suffered four defeats in six towards the end of the regular season before rediscovering their form and their status as underdogs is something their head coach understands the reasoning behind, even if he doesn’t agree with it.
"I understand why we’re the underdog, I get that – we had some ups and downs during the season," the 65-year-old admitted.
"I never feel like an underdog going into a game. I understand why it’s been situated that way. It is what it is."
Reid said his message to players tasting the showpiece for the first time to help calm nerves they might have was: "When you get through all of this, this stuff here, it’s a game."
He added: "It’s faster than most games. It’s crazy how in the play-offs every game is a little faster the higher you go up. So it’s fast. But it’s still a game. You’re professionals, so you go play and do your job."
Reid was asked about the likelihood of him considering retirement if the Chiefs complete back-to-back successes this weekend.
And he said: "I haven’t gone there, I don’t think about that. I’m tied up in the game and trying to take care of that. I’m sure somewhere I’ll know when that time is. It’s not today or Sunday."
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, despite his success, isn’t looking beyond this game despite pundits speculating whether he could eventually emulate Tom Brady’s record of seven Super Bowl triumphs.
"It’s humbling because I never thought I would be in this many Super Bowl games, honestly," he said.
"You strive to be great but you understand how hard it is to even be in this game, and for us to be in my fourth one in my sixth year of starting truly is remarkable.
"I don’t take it for granted because you never know if you’re going to be able to be back in this game."
Brady won six of his Super Bowls with the New England Patriots in what was considered one of the game’s greatest dynasties, but Mahomes is reluctant to discuss the Chiefs in such terms.
He said: "I think the biggest thing about the dynasty is consistency. Trying to be consistently great every single year, not getting too big-headed or satisfied with where they’re at.
"You have to continue to do it year in and year out and I don’t think you can really say that you’re a dynasty until it’s over and people will look back at your career and how you did it."
Usher may be the half-time act, but won’t be the most famous musician in the building, with Taylor Swift set to attend after a whirlwind seven days that took her to Japan after Sunday’s Grammy Awards, where she became the first artist to win a fourth Album of the Year accolade for her Midnights release.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce wants to make sure his girlfriend is not the only person in their relationship to bring silverware home this week.
"She’s unbelievable, she’s rewriting the history books herself," the 34-year-old said. I told her I’ll have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home with some hardware, too."
Kelce’s relationship with Swift has brought more attention to the NFL in recent months and Kelce is embracing it.
"She’s definitely brought a lot of new faces to the game, and it’s been fun to experience that," he said.
"Taylor has an unbelievable fanbase that follows her and supports her throughout her life.
"It’s been fun to kind of gather the Swifties into Chiefs Kingdom and open them up to the football world and sports world. It’s been cool to experience that."
