The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers are set to do battle in the 50th edition of America’s most watched event at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara.
The match will take place on Sunday at 3.30pm (Pacific Time) in the US, meaning in Australia it's live today at 10.30am AEDT.
Here are the basic rules of the sport you should know to keep up with proceedings.
Game length
Games are divided into quarters made up of 15 minutes.
At the end of the first and third quarters, the team with the ball retains possession heading into the following quarter, which is not the case before halftime.
The second half begins with a kick off in the same way as in both rugby codes.
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The basics
Essentially, each team has four tackles, called ‘downs’ to try and make 10 yards, or 9 metres.
If a team manages to take the ball 10 yards or longer, they are then given the opportunity to make another 10 yards within four downs.
Putting the above logic into practice, if a team is second and eight, it means the offensive team is on its second down and they still need to make a further eight yards to receive their next set of four downs.
If the offensive team is too far from scoring on the fourth down, they can either kick a field goal or punt the ball to the opposition.
This is similar in rugby league on the fifth tackle.
The main difference between rugby codes and gridiron is that after the ball is kicked, the kicking team isn’t allowed to re-gather the ball, for example chip-and-chase play in rugby.
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A ‘play’
A play begins at what is called the line of scrimmage.
The offensive team, typically through the thrower, or quarterback, is only allowed to throw the ball forward once per down.
However, each team may pass the ball backwards as many times as they like, called a lateral pass.
The tackle
A player is tackled when one or both of his knees touch the ground. The play is then over.
Scoring
A touchdown, which is worth six points, is the main form of scoring and occurs when the player carrying the ball, crosses the goal line.
It doesn’t have to be grounded over the goal line, or 'end zone'.
If a player from the offensive team is catching the ball in the end zone, they need to have two feet in bounds at some point in time.
After a touchdown is scored, the offensive team tries to convert the touchdown for one extra point.
This conversion kick is taken from the 15 yard line directly in front of the goal posts.
Teams can also attempt a two-point conversion, which is where they will try and score another touchdown from the opponent’s two-yard line.
Field goals, which are worth three points, can be attempted during a play and from any position on the field.
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Overtime
Overtime occurs if teams are locked at fulltime. In order to win the game in overtime, the team who wins the coin toss must score a touchdown on their first possession.
If they don't score or only score a field goal, the opposing team then gets a chance to score.
If they kick a field goal, the game continues.
If they score a touchdown, the game ends.
If the game is tied after both teams have had a possession, then the next score wins.
Fun facts for Super Bowl 2016
- Denver Broncos player, Peyton Manning, is considered one of the sport's greatest players and this will be his fourth Super Bowl
- The period of 13 years and 48 days is the largest ever between quarterbacks, Manning (39) and Cam Newton (26).
- The game will be played at Levi’s Stadium; the home of the San Francisco 49ers - Jarryd Hayne’s team
- Adverts during the event start at around $5 million (AUS $6.9 million) for 30 seconds and $9 million (AUS $12.5 million) for a full minute
- Celebrities confirmed to appear in ads included Alec Baldwin, Ryan Reynolds, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen
- Americans are set to eat around 1.3 billion chicken wings on the day
- Coldplay and Beyonce are performing at half time
