The 2016 Super Bowl logo was just released, and it's surprisingly easy to decipher — because the new Super Bowl logo is missing the Roman numerals that have left football fans across the country scratching their heads for years. This Super Bowl logo is the first since 1971 to ditch numerals for numbers.
Strangely enough, the Roman numeral for 50 is simply "L." Is it just me or was this possibly going to be the first year where people looked at the logo and sort of had a clue as to what Super Bowl it was? Apparently not. The league has decided that "Super Bowl L" is too confusing and therefore the NFL will be taking a one-year break from tradition. (I'm pretty sure that's not how tradition works.)
Anyway, the league's vice president of brand and creative, Jaime Weston, told ESPN they've always wondered what would happen when they got to Super Bowl 50 and this change has been in the works since 2013.
When we developed the Super Bowl XL logo, that was the first time we looked at the letter 'L,'. Up until that point, we had only worked with X's, V's and I's. And, at that moment, that's when we started to wonder what will happen when we get to 50?
So there you have it. The 2016 Super Bowl, or simply Super Bowl 50, will be played at Levi's Stadium in San Francisco. Levi's Stadium, by the way, will be home to the San Francisco 49ers starting in 2014. Brand new stadium and a supremely special, golden Super Bowl logo? Looking good, NFL.
The logo apparently went through 73 versions before arriving at this one. The gold digits are an ode to this "golden" game being played in the "Golden State".
Though fans will get a necessary brain break for 2016, they still need to brush up on Roman history and numerals. Next year, Super Bowl XLIX will be played in Glendale, Arizona. Then we get Super Bowl 50 and then the numerals will be back for 2017.
Since the NFL has already broken tradition, consider this the official petition to rename Super Bowl XLIX to Super Bowl ELIXIR. Who's with me?
