Super Bowl L is for losers but NFL will return to Roman numerals after 50
Bad news for those of you who can't read Roman numerals: the NFL will return to using them after Super Bowl 50 -- just like they've done for the 49 previous Super Bowls.
By
Ryan Wilson
•
1 min read
Bad news for those of you who can't read Roman numerals: the NFL will return to using them after Super Bowl 50 -- just like they've done for the 49 previous Super Bowls.
This is according to the San Jose Mercury News' Bruce Newman, who writes that the league considers the block letters "one of the things that defined the Super Bowl for us."
Fair enough, but then why would the NFL abandon it this year? Because the Roman numeral for 50 is L. The fear, presumably, is that it would morph into Super Bowl L(oser) and the league wanted to avoid that possibility.
"L immediately brought up so many negative connotations," NFL creative director Shandon Melvin said, who added that L, as opposed to X or V, was "very asymmetrical."
"And three-quarters of the letter is negative space," Melvin explained. "It's like, what do you do with this thing to make it look attractive? I'll take an X any day of the week. Or any other letter for that matter."
So the NFL got to work on finding an alternative to "Super Bowl L."
Two years ago, an in-house competition between Super Bowl logos featuring the Roman L and the Arabic 5-0 produced 73 mock-ups. Melvin didn't really believe "50" had a chance. "There's no way," he thought. "If Roman numerals are our thing, why would we break from tradition?"
But that's exactly what happened. Either way, enjoy it while you can; next year, we'll be preparing for Super Bowl LI, asymmetry be damned. Melvin says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is "very committed" to returning to Roman numerals.
"They're part of us, such a strong icon for the game," Melvin said. "We just wanted to do something a little different for once."
