Life Was Much Different Last Time the San Francisco Area Hosted the Super Bowl
Averages gas prices were $1.09 per gallon and "Dynasty" was the number one show.
— -- The last time the Super Bowl was played in the San Francisco area, in 1985, life was extremely different.
Super Bowl 50 won't actually be played in the Golden Gate City, but neither was Superbowl XIX, when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins 38-16 on Jan. 20, 1985 in Palo Alto, California at Stanford University's stadium, about 35 miles south.
Football fans anticipated an exciting matchup between two NFL quarterback greats: Dan Marino with the Dolphins and the 49ers' Joe Montana, who was named the game's MVP.
Frank Gifford announced the game, which was broadcast by ABC, along with Joe Theismann and Don Meredith. It is the 10th highest-rated Super Bowl game of all time, in terms of the average number of American homes that have watched each game, according to the Associated Press.
Here is what life was like the last time the Super Bowl was played in the Bay Area:
1. The number one song on Billboard's Hot 100 list was Madonna's "Like A Virgin." The number one album was "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen.
2. VH1, originally short for Video Hits One, launched on New Year's Day that year.
3. "Beverly Hills Cop," starring Eddie Murphy, was in the middle of a 12-week streak at the top of the box office.
4. "Dynasty," starring John Forsythe and Linda Evans, was the highest-rated television show in the 1984-1985 season, with an estimated audience of more than 21 million.
5. Ronald Reagan was privately sworn into his second term of office on game day and was publicly sworn into office the next day. George H.W. Bush was vice president.
6. The cost of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial spot was about $525,000, compared to $5 million today.
7. The night of the game, a blistering arctic front hit the U.S. from the Midwest to the Gulf coast, bringing record-low temperatures in at least 58 cities, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1985. The temperature in Chicago hit 27 degrees below zero and felt like -80 with the windchill.
8. Children were playing with Cabbage Patch Kids, Trivial Pursuit and Transformers, G.I. Joe and Master of the Universe action figures, the most popular toys of Christmas 1984.
9. In 1985, average gas prices were about $1.09 per gallon, average movie tickets were $2.75 and it cost $.22 to mail a standard-sized letter. The average-priced home was $40,169.
10. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was only 4 days old when Superbowl XIX aired. He was named MVP for Super Bowl XLVII, when the Ravens beat the 49ers 34-31 on Feb. 3, 2013 in New Orleans.
11. The first-ever mandatory seat belt law went into full effect at the beginning of the year.
12. The halftime show wasn't as big as a spectacle as it is now. In 1985, an elite performing ensemble named Tops in Blue, made up of active duty members from the U.S. Air Force, performed a show themed “World of Children’s Dreams.” In 2011, the group performed "America the Beautiful" alongside "Glee" star Lea Michele at the pregame show for Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas.
13. Kids weren't playing "Super Mario Bros." or "Duck Hunt" during the game because the Nintendo gaming system hadn't been released in the U.S. until October of that year. It was released in Japan two years earlier.
14. Non-football fans weren't watching movies rented by Blockbuster during the game, either. The first store wouldn't pop up until October in Dallas.
15. In 1985, the college football national champions were the Brigham Young University Cougars, who were undefeated in the 1984 season. They beat the University of Michigan Wolverines in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 21, 1984.
Fun fact: In 1994, The NFL voted for the city of San Francisco to host Super Bowl XXXIII, given that renovations would be made at Candlestick Park. When that didn't happen, the NFL named Miami as the host city. The Denver Broncos won that game, beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 on Jan. 31, 1999 in Pro Player Stadium.
Had San Francisco hosted that game, this list would have turned out much differently.