What time will Super Bowl 2025 start (and end) tonight?

Super Bowl Sunday is finally here, with the Eagles taking on the Kansas City Chiefs at the Superdome in New Orleans.

It seems a bit like déjà vu — just two years ago Patrick Mahomes faced off against Jalen Hurts in Super Bowl LVII in Phoenix, which was beamed out to over 114 million people on Fox. The network is back broadcasting tonight’s Super Bowl, its third in six years.

While many of the trappings are similar, there will be two fresh faces tonight — Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who is playing in his first-ever Super Bowl, and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, who’s calling his first Super Bowl for Fox.

Brady replaced Greg Olsen in Fox’s top NFL booth this year along play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt (who grew up rooting for the Eagles) and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi. While Brady and crew were no-shows to Fox’s media event this week in New Orleans, the seven-time Super Bowl champ told reporters during a conference call he feels their booth is really hitting their stride heading into Sunday’s game.

“I understand I’m a long ways from being a finished product as a broadcaster,” Brady said, admitting he made “plenty” of mistakes this season. “I’ve really enjoyed the learning curve. Hopefully this is our best game yet.”

You can also hear the game on 94.1 WIP, where Merrill Reese — who has called every Eagles Super Bowl — will be in the booth alongside Mike Quick and new sideline reporter Devin Kaney, replacing Howard Eskin this season following his abrupt exit from the station in December.

Reese called the Eagles’ first Super Bowl from the Superdome back in 1981, a game they lost to the then-Oakland Raiders. While Reese hopes the outcome tonight will be better, he knows his seat won’t be.

“We are way up at the very top of the dome, looking down at little dots,” Reese told The Inquirer. “I use my binoculars a lot more than I used to. But my vision is very good, thank goodness, and I’m able to see the numbers. But it’s a long way.”

The average NFL game typically has 18 commercial breaks, and because of all the untimed stoppages in play, games don’t really have a set “end time.” The Super Bowl is even tougher to predict, thanks to all those expensive commercials and a full-blown concert at halftime (headlined this year by Kendrick Lamar and SZA).

Last year’s Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers was the first to ever go into overtime. As a result, it was the first Super Bowl in more than a decade to last more than four hours.

The previous three Super Bowls have been relatively brisk, lasting around three and a half hours. By comparison, the Eagles’ 41-33 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII in 2018 went on until 10:25 p.m., lasting just under four hours.

Hanging over tonight’s game is what happened the last time the Superdome hosted the Super Bowl. In 2013, a 34-minute blackout during Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens extended the game to four hours and 14 minutes.

Over the last 10 seasons, the average length of the Super Bowl is about three hours and 39 minutes. Using that measure, the game would end around 10:09 p.m. ET.

As with every other Super Bowl, expect to be bombarded with a flurry of ads that cost somewhere between $7 million and $8 million for just 30 seconds. This year, expect to see commercials featuring Nick Foles, the Muppets, and honorary Philadelphian Shane Gillis. There’s also a much-talked-about reunion between When Harry Met Sally costars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. And of course, you’ll see ex-Eagles star Jason Kelce in a spot or two.