NEW ORLEANS — The first Super Bowl was played in January 1967, and in the 58 years since then, no sitting president has ever attended the game, but that’s going to change this year. Donald Trump is set to be in attendance on Sunday for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, CBS News has reported.
There have been a total of 11 presidents to hold office since that first Super Bowl, and none of them has attended a game. Not only will Trump be on hand to watch the Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles, but he’ll also be taking part in a pre-taped interview with Fox that will air at some point during the 3 p.m. ET hour on Super Bowl Sunday.
Although we haven’t seen a sitting president attend the Super Bowl, there have been four instances where a sitting vice president attended the game, with the most recent one coming in February 2017 when Mike Pence was on hand in Houston to witness the Patriots’ 34-28 win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI. The most notable situation involving a vice president came in January 1982 when the VP at the time, George H.W. Bush decided to attend the Bengals-49ers game in Detroit. Bush’s motorcade stalled traffic, which almost caused a 49ers team bus to be late for the game. The bus arrived just 20 minutes before the 49ers were set to start on-field warmups.
Super Bowl 2025 cheat sheet: Do you want to be an expert? Everything to know for Chiefs-Eagles in New Orleans
Jared Dubin
This year’s Super Bowl was already going to have heightened security with the event coming less than six weeks after a Jan. 1 terrorist attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead. With Trump now attending, security will likely be amped up.
Earlier this week, Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said that more than 690 employees representing 12 DHS agencies will be in New Orleans providing nearly every kind of security imaginable.
“Around 100,000 people will be celebrating the Super Bowl in and around the Superdome in New Orleans this weekend,” Noem said in a statement. “We will give law enforcement every resource they need to ensure a safe event. Thank you to our partners, Governor Landry, Mayor Cantrell and the New Orleans Police Department. If you see something, say something!”
The security presence in New Orleans has been noticeable with an estimated 2,000 federal agents and 350 national guard troops in town to help with security (You can read more about the security measures here).
Super Bowl LIX will be kicking off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.