*footnotes

The Super Bowl is Sunday.

The National Football League’s massive media blitz has made this more than just a game--it’s a new secular holiday. The contest itself is practically irrelevant. Quick--name the two teams in last year’s game.

* Here are the basic facts for you non-football types: The game starts about 3 p.m. PST on CBS-TV. Mega-popular boy-band the Backstreet Boys will sing the national anthem; mega-popular boy band N’Sync, mega-popular girl star Britney Spears, longtime rock favorites Aerosmith and “the Genius” himself, Ray Charles, will perform during the halftime show. And, oh yeah, the NFC champion New York Giants will play the AFC champion Baltimore Ravens.

* It’s estimated “the Game” will be seen in more than 40 million households. Since the Super Bowl is usually the most watched TV program of each year, advertisers are willing to spend the big bucks (about $76,667 per second, up slightly from last year’s record) to air their commercials during the game.

Despite a weaker ad market, CBS says it managed to get an average of $2.3 million for the 60 half-minute ads during the contest. Last year’s game featured ads from 17 Internet companies in addition to such Super Bowl regulars as Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi-Cola and Federal Express. Only three dot-coms are back in the action this year: online broker ETrade and job sites Monster.com and Hotjobs.com.

* The Web site https://www.superbowl-ads.com will let viewers vote on their favorite commercial. Last year’s winner was EDS.com’s “Cat-Herding” spot, followed by the “Monkey Dance” commercial from ETrade. You can also vote for your favorite Super Bowl ad of all time at this Web site.

* Ever wonder how much it would cost to go to the game? Brokers are asking about $2,000 for end zone seats, $5,000 to $6,000 for 20-yard-line seats; sky boxes range from about $7,000 to $10,000 per person. The Web site https://www.superbowlskyboxes.com is offering passes to the NFL commissioner’s party for a mere $900.