Why are the Los Angeles Rams the 'away team' for the Super Bowl?
Even though they will be playing in their home stadium, the Los Angeles Rams are are actually the 'away team' for the Super Bowl. The question is why?
To play a championship game at home is a dream come true and that's exactly what the Los Angeles Rams are going to do, when they face the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl. Yet they will actually be the away team, why?
The Rams will play at home, but they will be 'away'
For only the second time in NFL history, one of the two participating teams will be playing the big game in their home stadium. Indeed after their dramatic win over the San Francisco 49ers the Los Angeles Rams will have the pleasure of playing at home for Super Bowl LVI, but strangely they will be the 'away' team. While it may seem a curious thing, the reason is actually not controversial at all. The AFC and NFC alternate which conference is the home and away team each year when the Super Bowl arrives. The AFC is the home team for even-numbered Super Bowls, and the NFC is the home team for odd ones. With that in mind, the Bengals are naturally the home team though they will be a long way away from home when they take on the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Are there any perks for being home or away?
In a Super Bowl, the 'home team' is traditionally afforded the use of the stadium's home team locker, however, given the circumstances the Rams will be allowed to keep their own locker room for Super Bowl LVI. The Bengals on the other hand will be using that of the Chargers who actually share SoFi Stadium with the Rams. As the 'home team' Cincinnati will be allowed to choose whether they where dark or light colored uniforms for the game.The Bengals of course typically wear their black tops, but there has been speculation that they may choose to go with the white tops, which saw them defeat both the Titans and the Chiefs. Where the 'visiting team is concerned, the Rams will be given the opportunity to call the coin toss to start the Super Bowl.
The Rams face the weight of history
Not many teams in any sport get the opportunity to play for a championship in their own stadium. Should Rams manage to defeat the Bengals to win the Super Bowl, they will join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who did it in 2020, as the only other team to pull it off. In addition they would also become the first Los Angeles based NFL team since the 1983 Raiders - the Raiders are now based in Las Vegas - to win a Super Bowl title.