Super Bowl Coin Toss history, process, results: Why do we toss a coin at football games?

Heads or tails: the Super Bowl coin toss is simple in practice and simple in betting terms. But please, don’t bet on the coin toss on Sunday.

Ever wonder why the NFL chooses to flip a coin before every Super Bowl game? Today’s your lucky day.

Let’s start with the facts: The NFL uses the coin toss as a theoretically fair method to determine possession: the winner can choose whether he wants to receive the ball at kickoff or select a side. The winner can also defer, which means they would have the option of receiving the ball at the start of the second half (most teams choose to defer to give themselves an extra possession in the second half).

Roughly three minutes before the start of the game, the referee asks the designated team to choose heads or tails, and the referee will confirm the call mid-toss.

The coin is not your ordinary quarter; rather, it’s a specially designed coin that weighs the same every year, about one ounce.

Since 1978, a celebrity has been nominated to flip the coin at the start of the Super Bowl to mark the spectacle. Last year’s celebrity was tennis legend Billie Jean King, and this year’s celebrity will be former Arizona Cardinals player Pat Tillman.

What is the history of the Super Bowl coin toss?

Starting in Super Bowl 48, which pitted the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots, the winner of the coin toss inherited a rather unlucky curse. The winner of the coin toss has lost the game in eight straight Super Bowls dating back to the 2014 regular season. Every coin toss winner over the past eight years has also chosen to defer.

In Super Bowl 48, the Seahawks, who won the coin toss and deferred, ended up losing to the Patriots (no doubt because of the curse and not Russell Wilson’s 1-yard line interception).

The last team to win the coin toss and the game was the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 47 against the Denver Broncos.

What are the results of the Super Bowl coin toss?

In the entire history of the Super Bowl coin toss, tails has come up 29 times and heads has come up 27 times.

In the last five Super Bowls, heads has come up four times.

Who is calling the coin toss in this year’s Super Bowl?

The visiting team typically calls the coin toss in football games, but the rules differ slightly in the Super Bowl. Since games are played at a neutral site, the conferences take turns calling the toss: the NFC team called the coin toss last year, so the AFC’s Kansas City Chiefs will call the toss this year.