Taylor Swift will be there, Prince Harry won't be there, the San Francisco 49ers are complaining about a hijacked preparation, and the Kansas City Chiefs are suffering an injury blow in their dramatic buildup to Super Bowl LVIII.
Pop star Swift set off from her concert in Tokyo to Haneda Airport in a convoy of four black SUVs and headed to Los Angeles.
Then she jetted off to Las Vegas, the venue for the biggest sporting event on Earth, to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce compete for his third championship.
The Chiefs tight end and Swift have become the dominant story in the NFL this year because Swift is the most famous musician on the planet.
Fears that she would miss the big game were dispelled when her plane, named “Era of Football,” landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, local time.
The Swift and Kelce families will be together in a private suite at Allegiant Stadium that the Chiefs star paid $1.5 million for.
Prince Harry shocked onlookers when he appeared in Vegas on Thursday to present the Walter Payton NFL Most Valuable Man Award to Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward.
However, the prince and his wife, Meghan Markle, will not be attending the grand show as they are heading to Canada for the Invictus Games.
Speaking of games, the 49ers are convinced that someone is playing games with them because they are angry about their preparation.
Coach Kyle Shanahan was angry about the softness of the grass on their practice field at UNLV, while the Chiefs were practicing at Allegiant Stadium.
(The AFC and NFC teams alternate each year to practice at the venue before the Super Bowl.)
San Francisco players also believe a prankster set off an alarm at 6 a.m. at their team hotel to disrupt their sleep.
“There's no way it's random,” 49ers star Christian McCaffrey said. “It's part of it. It's just more wood thrown on the fire.”
“Fire alarm goes off at 6 a.m.?,” wide receiver Deebo Samuel said. Why? I did not understand that. “This is kind of messing with me.”
However, in news that should get the hopes up of long-suffering Niners fans, who haven't seen their team lift a Lombardi Trophy in 30 years, $80 million powerhouse defender Joe Thuney is a late Super Bowl omission.
The Chiefs had already lost star defenseman Charles Omenihu to a knee injury and guard Thone is now the second defensive starter to be ruled out.
They have activated running back Jerick McKinnon from the injured reserve list but a decision on whether he will play will be made before the game.
The Niners were already the favorite and all of their starters were cleared, so the late injury blow sent the defending champion Chiefs into the market.
However, the Chiefs have made four of their last five Super Bowls and thrived as underdogs.
The 49ers' dominant running game – led by McCaffrey and Samuel – will attempt to break through the Chiefs' wall, while quarterback Brock Purdy will hope to shed his title as “Mr. Irrelevant”, having been selected as the NFL's 262nd and final player of the year for 2022. Draft.
Kansas City's hopes rest on the shoulders of wunderkind quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has already led the franchise to two titles and in quick time has become one of the game's greats.
Less regular NFL and Swifties viewers will be interested to know that the rivalry between the Chiefs and 49ers also extends off the field.
Kelsey's ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole, who dated the star from 2017 to 2022, appears to have switched allegiances by partying in Vegas over the weekend with 49ers WAGs that include Claire Kittle, the wife of Kelsey's tight end rival George Kittle.
The halftime show is another Super Bowl feature that appeals to non-football fans, and this year's entertainer is R&B star Usher.
Fans are speculating that he might bring Alicia Keys on stage to perform their duet My Boo.
The other upcoming off-stadium attraction for American viewers is the Super Bowl commercials, which each cost $7 million for a 60-second ad.
Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer will reunite this year at Uber Eats. It will reportedly cost the company more than US$50 million for total production.
US beer company Bud Light has suffered a decline in sales after its decision to use transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a marketing campaign.
Conservative customers, led by musician Kid Rock, boycotted the brand and posted clips on social media in which they spilled beer cans on the floor.
Bud Light is now looking at an ad featuring NFL legend Peyton Manning, rapper Post Malone and UFC president Dana White to win back customers.
Eventually, long after the singing, dancing and acting have melted into the memory banks, one team will be immortalized as Super Bowl champion and claim the prize that money can't buy.
Either Purdy and McCaffrey will end San Francisco's three-decade madness, or Mahomes and Kelce will capture their third championship in five years to create a new era in football.
