Super Bowl 2011: 10 Reasons It Was The Most Watched Television Program Ever

It's hard to introduce anything about the Super Bowl, because unless you've been living under a rock for the last few months, you already know pretty much everything about the game inside out.

In any case, Super Bowl XLV was the turn of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers to fight it out for arguably America's biggest prize. With both teams being the two most storied, successful franchises in the history of the sport, the game was bound to be a great clash.

Clearly, the public expected a great match, as well as the game broke record viewing figures for the second consecutive year.

Here are ten reason's why the game managed to do so...

1. Green Bay Packers

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Aaron Rodgers #12 and Clay Matthews #52 of the Green Bay Packers of the Green Bay Packers holds the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 during Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in

The Green Bay Packers are the most successful franchise in the sport's history, particularly thanks to one Vince Lombardi.

Having set himself a goal of winning three consecutive titles with the down and out Green Bay team, Lombardi went on to win two titles before being defeated in his third. Never giving up, he continued to build the team and just a small amount of years later, Green Bay won three consecutive titles.

The first time the Super Bowl was held, and the Lombardi trophy had it's name, it was Green Bay who won again.

The Packers, are no doubt, the most storied franchise in the sport's history.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Mike Wallace #17 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs for 25 yard touchdown after catching a pass against Sam Shields #37 of the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011

The Pittsburgh Steelers may also try to lay claim to being the most storied team in the sport's history. The team have won more Super Bowls than any other side, having won six times.

The Steelers won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, XIV, XL and XLIII. They have also appeared in the match another two times (including this year), making them the most successful NFL team of the Super Bowl era.

Having been storied so much, the Steelers, no doubt were responsible for also attracting masses of fans to watch the game to see if they could complete an unprecedented seven Super Bowl wins.

3. Black Eyed Peas

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: will.i.am, Fergie and Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas perform during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLV Halftime Show at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

The Black Eyed Peas, sadly, not only butchered their own songs, but also destroyed the Guns 'n' Roses classic Sweet Child O' Mine during their halftime show.

Despite a strong production, and some very fancy lighting and gadgets, the hip-hop group failed to produce a particularly memorable halftime show.

Regardless, the decision to have them perform at halftime from the organizers came as a surprise to some people, and many extra fans may have tuned in to see just what the reception the group was given.

4. NFL Popularity

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Chad Clifton #76 of the Green Bay Packers holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XLV 31-25 against the at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

There can be no doubting the popularity of the NFL in the modern day. It's audience is not only growing in America, but it's worldwide appeal also had something to do with the record breaking figures.

The record viewing figures seen last year eclipsed the original record held by the finale of M.A.S.H. This year that figure was again eclipsed, which speaks for itself.

The amount of fans in and around the Stadium only showed a mere iota of just how popular the NFL is and how many fans it truly has.

5. Overseas Fans

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KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 7: In this photo provided by ISAF Regional Command (South), (L-R) Sgt. Carl Berg, Sgt. 1st Class Willard Brooks and Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Keller of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum in New York, react to a second-

The Super Bowl was broadcasted in a number of countries worldwide, as the sport's international appeal grows. The amount of fans that are beginning to watch the game from overseas also contributed to the record-breaking figures that were announced.

Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq (pictured) were also watching the match as sports fanatics worldwide sat in front of their TV's waiting for the outcome of the biggest game of the year.

6. The Score

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Greg Jennings #85 of the Green Bay Packers catches a 31 yard pass in the fourth quarter against Ryan Clark #25 and Ike Taylor #24 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arli

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the final score in the match was part of the reason for the viewing figures.

With Green Bay taking an early 14-0 lead in the first half, it looked as though it was going to be a big scoring game, but only a fool would have written off the Steelers.

By halftime the score was perfectly poised at 21-10 in favor of the Packers, but the momentum with the Steelers.

Even closer was the score heading into the fourth quarter as Pittsburgh closed in on the Packers at a score of 17-21.

In what looked set to be the final drive of the game, the Steelers were sitting six points behind the Packers at 25-31. The game looked perfectly set up for what could have been an even more unbelievable one point win by the Steelers, but the Green Bay defense stepped up right when it needed to and ensured that the game would go down in history for its score line.

7. Commercials

With viewing figures guaranteed to be high, every single company on the planet wants to get a slot for a Super Bowl commercial. Prices have gone through the roof to be on air for even a short few seconds of air time.

With companies having to take their Super Bowl commercials so seriously, they have to ensure that they produce the most memorable advert that they can.

Because of this, the standard of Super Bowl commercials is very high, and some fans end up enjoying this part of the event, just as much as the halftime show or any other moment.

8. One Of a Kind

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: The Vince Lombardi Trophy is help up after the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

On the British BBC coverage of the match last night, Mike Carlson explained exactly why the match holds the importance it does.

He said that compared to sports like the NHL and the NBA, the Super Bowl is the one chance a team gets at winning the ultimate title, rather than a best of seven round.

With regards to Europe, there cannot even be a comparison with football's (or soccer) oldest tournament in the FA Cup. While the FA Cup has a magnificent history in it's own right, the final does not decide the ultimate champion of the country due to the amount of other tournaments the teams also play in.

The Super Bowl does exactly what it's supposed to, with the nearest comparison being the World Cup final.

9. The Story

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: The Green Bay Packers celebrate defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31 to 25 in Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

A wild card team with three road wins against a team that went straight into a home match in the Divisional Round and looked to have a slightly easier path to the Super Bowl.

The biggest surprise was that it was the wild card team that were the favorites before the big match.

The Super Bowl was seen as a solid, experienced team filled with skill against a team that was also filled with skill, but was practically running on a hunger to win the biggest tournament of all.

No one predicted that the Packers would get to the Super Bowl halfway through the regular season, but there fantastic story has the same fantastic ending that everybody knows.

10. Lombardi

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Head coach Mike McCarthy of the Green Bay Packers holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XLV 31-25 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ke

So Green Bay is one of the most chronicled teams in the sport's history, and they also had a surprising season hitting top form so late on, but the chance for them to take Lombardi back to his original home was undoubtedly the story of the game.

Thanks to their early success before the Super Bowl era, the trophy was named after the team's greatest ever boss, Vince Lombardi. With the team now having reached the biggest match of them all, it was their best chance to take the trophy back home for the first time since 1996.

The team did just that, putting in the performance they needed to; to ensure that Lombardi made his way home to Green Bay.