In a strange turn of events, a power outage at the Superdome during Super Bowl XXLVII delayed the Super Bowl for 34 minutes and 55 seconds.
“@ESPNStatsInfo: We clocked the Super Bowl delay at 33 minutes, 55 seconds”
— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) February 4, 2013
The power outage completely changed the momentum of the game, and gave the San Francisco 49ers new life, who eventually came back and tied the game with 9:57 left in the fourth quarter.
Plenty of people weighed in on the delay, and some companies tried to capitalize on the power outage with some marketing strategies.
Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC
— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013
We just really don't want football season to end. Can you blame us?
— Buffalo Wild Wings (@BWWings) February 4, 2013
The largest comeback in Super Bowl history is 10 points (1987 Redskins, 2009 Saints). The 49ers once trailed in #SB47 by 22 points.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 4, 2013
Our win probability calculator had the 49ers at the time of the power outage with a 2.1 percent win probability
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 4, 2013
We are experts of power (play) outages. We got this.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 4, 2013
Ugh. This would never happen in the Stanley Cup Finals.
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) February 4, 2013
Last time the lights went out like this in the Superdome at a sports event: Kansas' evisceration of Marquette in 2003 Final Four.
— Gerry Ahern (@GerryAhern30) February 4, 2013
NFL statement for now has no explanation for the outage. says it is still being investigated
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 4, 2013
The power outage also inspired parody Twitter accounts such as this one:
Sorry, guys. #SB47
— SuperDome Lights (@SuperDomeLights) February 4, 2013
Luckily for the NFL, the power outage didn’t effect the outcome of the game, even though it made it for a closer finish. It actually probably helped ratings, by having such a close finish instead of having the Ravens onslaught continue. Had the 49ers won this game, the incident would have been a major media disaster and the NFL would have taken some serious heat. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Superdome doesn’t get another Super Bowl for a while, but they did a great job of keeping everyone in the stadium calm.
Obviously this ended up being the longest Super Bowl ever, and it will be nearly impossible to surpass it.
[Photo via: insidesocal.com] [Photo via: @bubbaprog]
