The Super Bowl returns to the West, marking the third consecutive year that the big game has been played in that area of the country.
Las Vegas will host the NFL’s biggest game and this year it will be between two teams from the Western divisions, with the 49ers representing the NFC West and the Chiefs coming from the AFC West.
It was just four years ago that the Chiefs and 49ers met in the Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes earned his first Super Bowl victory, beating Jimmy Garoppolo and San Francisco in a 31-20 victory at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
When these two meet in a rematch, who will be the home team? Will it be the 49ers, who are closer to Sin City, or will it be the Chiefs, who play in the same conference as the host city team?
Who is the home team in the 2024 Super Bowl?
Proximity doesn’t matter. The host stadium conference does not matter. Even past matchups between the teams don’t matter. The Chiefs are the home team this year and there is a simple reason why that is the case.
The local team alternates year after year, changing conferences. Last year, the NFC Eagles were the home team in the Super Bowl against the AFC Chiefs. The previous year, the AFC Bengals were the home team against the NFC Rams despite playing in the Rams’ stadium.
Is there any real advantage to being the home team? Not precisely.
Does the home team matter in the Super Bowl?
Uniforms
The only real decision the home team can make is what uniform to wear. This year, the Chiefs will be able to choose whether they will wear their colored home uniforms or their white road uniforms.
Last year, the Eagles wore their green uniforms and the Chiefs wore their white uniforms. This year, it seems likely that the Chiefs will opt to wear their home red rags.
Coin toss
The Chiefs pick the uniforms, the 49ers pick the draft. But how much does choosing “heads” or “tails” really impact the outcome of the draw?
At the end of the day, the draw is 50/50. The Chiefs have the same chance of winning the toss whether they announce it or not. Yet somehow, the visiting team has chosen the coin toss correctly in three of the last four years. The Chiefs have won the toss in two of their last three Super Bowls, losing only to the 49ers.
