What is Super Bowl XLI? Why the NFL uses Roman numerals, history, how to read them
Welcome to Super Bowl LIX.
That's Super Bowl 59 for those untrained in Roman numerals, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Philadelphia Eagles at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in New Orleans. Led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs will look to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to earn a three-peat.
Heading into the NFL's biggest game of the year, fans may wonder, "Why does the NFL use Roman numerals instead of the simple number system we are accustomed to?" While Roman numerals may be harder to understand for someone unfamiliar with them, their reasoning is more straightforward.
Here's what you need to know about when the NFL uses Roman numerals, why it uses it, how to read them and more:
What Super Bowl is it?
This season's NFL championship game — Super Bowl LIX — is Super Bowl 59.
Why does the NFL use Roman numerals?
The NFL uses Roman numerals to avoid confusion about the Super Bowl winner and the year. The 2025 postseason and Super Bowl will determine the champion of the 2024 NFL season. The regular season runs from September until December, but the playoffs spill over into the next calendar year, with the Super Bowl generally being played in February.
According to the NFL media guide from 2005:
"The Roman numerals were adopted to clarify any confusion that may occur because the NFL championship game — the Super Bowl — is played in the year following a chronologically recorded season. Numerals I through IV were added later for the first four Super Bowls."
The late Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt was the one who came up with the idea to use Roman numerals to number Super Bowls, but he also came up with the idea to call the NFL's biggest game of the year the "Super Bowl."
When did the NFL start using Roman numerals?
The term "Super Bowl" has been used since Super Bowl 3 in 1969, and Hunt is also credited with inventing it. Super Bowl V (5) was the first to use Roman numerals in 1971 between the Baltimore Colts and Dallas Cowboys. Subsequently, the NFL retroactively renamed the first four Super Bowls I, II, III and IV.
How to write 59 in Roman numerals
In Roman numerals, 59 is LIX. L represents 50, and IX represents 9, or one less than 10.
Why did Super Bowl 50 not use Roman numerals?
Instead of using Roman numerals, the 2016 Super Bowl was championed as "Super Bowl 50" instead of "Super Bowl L." The NFL announced the decision in June of 2014 to "further elevate and celebrate the historic 50th Super Bowl." Simply put, "Super Bowl 50" looked better than "Super Bowl L."
"When we developed the Super Bowl XL logo, that was the first time we looked at the letter L," Weston said to ESPN in 2014. "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?"
It was a one-year hiatus for the Roman numerals, as Super Bowl LI returned for the 51st Super Bowl in 2017.
Peyton Manning led the Denver Broncos to a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers on Feb. 7, 2016 in Super Bowl 50.
How to read Roman numerals
Roman numerals use the letters of the alphabet to tell the number. The higher the number, the higher the combination. Here's what the symbols are for the numbers 1 through 10:
- 1: I
- 2: II
- 3: III
- 4: IV
- 5: V
- 6: VI
- 7: VII
- 8: VIII
- 9: IX
- 10: X
Super Bowl 49 was XLVIII. It is also the year the "L" was introduced, as it is in XLIX, which means one less than 50. New letters wouldn't be introduced until Super Bowl 100, which would be C. Super Bowl 500 would be represented by D, and M would stand in for Super Bowl 1,000.