2006 Super Bowl XL

About Detroit, MI: Football fanatics in Detroit, Michigan were excited to play host to the most popular sporting event in the world when the hosted the first Superbowl ever played at Ford Field. The city had spent months preparing for this mega event and what better place to host the event than in their new luxurious stadium. Detroit also known as "The Motor City" has a population of 900000 people who were longing to see some great playoff football and what better game than Super Bowl XL. This year's game was an exciting match between the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers who were looking to tie a record for championships and the up and coming Seattle Seahawks who were appearing in the first ever Super Bowl.

Ticket Sales / Attendance: There were 68206 people in attendance at the 40th Superbowl and it is estimated that another 90.7 million fans watched from home making it the highest rated Super Bowl in 10 years. The game was broadcast on ABC with their top duo of Al Michaels and John Madden.

Team Pre-Season Stats: Pittsburgh started the year hoping to build off of an incredible run last year behind quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but "Big" Ben was hoping to improve on his great rookie season. They also would come into the season once again with a solid running game and number of running backs in case of injury to their starters. Seattle was coming into training camp with a solid offensive core and were hoping to finally move over the playoff hump and Pro Bowl Running Back Shaun Alexander would be leading that charge.

Team Roster / Salaries: The Pittsburgh Steelers had most of their 2004-05 roster intact and this included RB Jerome Bettis, WR Hines Ward and QB Ben Roethlisberger on offence. On defence they also had standout players in LB Joey Porter and DB Troy Polamalu. Bill Cowher would once again be back at the helm hoping to win his first championship as Steeler head coach. Seattle would also be guided by a great coach in Mike Holmgren and he would have stud running back Shaun Alexander once again leading the offensive charge. Off-season addition Joe Jurevicius would also be a great weapon at WR to help the passing game of Matt Hasselbeck.

Game Highlights: The scoring was low in the first half with both defences stepping up to lead the charge. Seattle lead off the scoring with a field goal, but from there Pittsburgh would take control of the game. The running game as always would help Pittsburgh build a lead, but in a different fashion than usual. QB Roethlisberger would score a rushing touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 7-3 lead and early in the second half RB Willie Parker would return a kick an amazing 75 yards to make it 14-3. Seattle battled back to add a touchdown of their own when Hasselbeck completed a 16 yard pass to one of his favourite targets Jeremy Stevens in the 3rd quarter.

However, it was not meant to be for Seattle on their first trip to the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh WR Antwaan Randle El who was actually a college quarterback would get in on the passing and throw a 43 yard TD pass to his partner at WR Hines Ward. This would crush any Seattle comeback and swing all momentum in the way of the Steelers and give RB Jerome Bettis his first championship in his home town of Detroit.

The game was a defensive struggle, but Seattle's ultimate downfall in the game was penalties, dropped passes and poor clock management, all leading to the Steelers winning a record tying fifth Super Bowl title.

Game MVP: Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward was named the MVP of the 40th Superbowl as the Steelers tied an NFL record for championships with the fifth in their franchise history. Ward caught 5 passes for 123 yards and the game breaking touchdown. His 43 yard reception thrown by fellow receiver Randle El gave Pittsburgh some breathing room late in the came and prevented any chance of a Seattle comeback. His leadership both on and off the field made him an MVP type player during the regular season and he stepped up in the biggest game of the year and of his career.

Half Time Show: The halftime show in this year's game would feature one of the biggest rock bands of all time, The Rolling Stones. After the headaches the NFL faced from the Janet Jackson halftime show incident 2 years earlier, they went with a group that was less controversial and loved by fans of all ages. The Stones played a few of their greatest hits including Satisfaction.

Commercials: This year the average cost of a 15 to 30 second commercial advertisement spot for the 40th Super bowl game was 2.5 million dollars, which is an average cost of just over $80000 per second. Budweiser once again featured a number of hilarious ads including "Beer Fridge" and "Camping" There were also several first time ads for some new movies coming from Disney and Warner Brothers. Go Daddy also was one of the most featured ads during the game promoting their online web hosting services. All commercials this year seemed to move to a new level and were as entertaining as the game itself.

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