Super Bowl 49 guide: Patriots-Seahawks time, TV schedule
Everything you need to know for the coverage of Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, 6:30 p.m. ET.
WHERE: University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
VOTE NOW:Watch, rate Super Bowl ads
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN: NBC or NBC Sports Live Extra website or app. Westwood One (radio).
NFL DRAFT HUB: Latest NFL Draft mock drafts, news, live picks, grades and analysis.
• National anthem: Idina Menzel.
• Halftime performer: Katy Perry.
• What NBC will present on Super Bowl Sunday:
Noon-1 p.m. ET: A one-hour special on the Together We Make Football contest that features the winners among the thousands of fans who sent in stories about what football means to them.
1-6:30: Pregame broadcast. Costas will be joined by NBC Football Night in America colleagues Dan Patrick, Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Ward, Josh Elliott, Mike Florio and King. Also appearing will be Flutie, Moss, Liam McHugh and Carolyn Manno.
6:30-10: Game broadcast. Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and analyst Cris Collinsworth, who played in Super Bowl XVI and XXIII, will be in charge for much of the rest of the night while Michelle Tafoya will handle on-field news.
Postgame: NBC's team analyzes the day and shows the trophy presentation.
Postgame after postgame: An episode of The Blacklist and then The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
• A look at what ESPN will have on Sunday.
7-7:30 a.m.: NFL Matchup ESPN2
8-10 a.m.: SportsCenter from Arizona ESPN
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Postseason NFL Countdown from Arizona ESPN
10:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m.: NFL PrimeTime From Arizona ESPN
MUST-READ STORIES
•Staff picks for Super Bowl XLIX.Will Seahawks become back-to-back champions or will Tom Brady get his fourth title?
• We're offering one last Super shot at fantasy football victory. Alas, football fans, the end of the NFL season is near, but don't feel too deflated. We received such an overwhelming response to our playoff fantasy contests that we're giving you one more shot to head into the offseason in style.
•Tom Brady driven to make more history. Brady didn't come to Arizona to reflect on the past. But he can't help it. One way or another, the past is part of Super Bowl XLIX, too.
• Will Super Bowl be Marshawn Lynch's last run with Seahawks?It should be a no-brainer that Lynch would be back with the Seahawks next year. But with Lynch, few things are simple.
• Aging Patriots can't squander another Super chance. Should the Patriots lose to the Seahawks in Sunday's Super Bowl, the game might be remembered as the time Brady and the Patriots graduated to senior status.
•Bend, don't break: Coaches push NFL rules to the limit. Cheating is as old as competition itself. Think of spitballs and corked bats, of doping horses and shaving points, of Lance Armstrong and the Faustian bargain of steroids.
• 'Papa' knows way to Marshawn Lynch's stomach and head. Lynch calls him "Papa." Always has. But the man is not the father of the Seattle Seahawks' running back.
• The father missing from Marshawn Lynch's life. Lynch's dad, Maurice Sapp, is serving a 24-year sentence for burglary and been convicted six times, twice on felonies — grand theft and burglary — according to records reviewed by USA TODAY Sports.
• Pete Carroll admired by '9/11 Truth' movement. Carroll is a conspiracy theorist, at least that is how the conspiracy theory goes. And it is one that has gained the Seattle Seahawks coach an unlikely following from the "9/11 Truth" movement in the lead-up to his attempt to win back-to-back Super Bowls.