When the AFL and NFL agreed that they would merge into a single league in 1971, they also agreed to begin playing a championship game after the 1966 season. Formally called the AFL-NFL Championship, it was soon nicknamed the Super bowl. According to one story, a team owner who thought the formal title was too formal came up with the new name while watching his grandson play with a super ball. That's probably apocryphal. The truth seems to be that some sportswriter invented the tag and it was immediately picked up by others and then by the NFL. Since the merger, the Super Bowl has been the NFL Championship Game, played between the NFC and AFC champions, who emerge from a round of playoffs. The game has become a major national event, probably the USA's major sporting event. After two weeks of intensive media hype, it draws millions of television viewers, many of whom wouldn't think of watching any other football game, and the number of Superbowl parties is probably surpassed only by the number of New Years Eve parties. | 
