What Does Super Bowl LVIII Mean?

Have you seen that fun little chart going around social media of the amount of Google searches related to the Super Bowl and to Roman numerals and how they both spike at the same time every year? Look, while there may be plenty of dudes thinking about the Roman Empire all the time, they clearly aren’t staying up to date on the Roman numerals and could use some help. Super Bowl LVIII is here, but other than thinking of it as another leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, what does that mean?

What does Super Bowl LVIII mean in Roman numerals?

It kind of looks like Super Bowl Level or something, but Super Bowl LVIII means this is Super Bowl 58 in 2024. In Roman numerals, L means 50, V means 5, and each I counts as 1. So 50 plus 5 plus 3 brings you to Super Bowl 58. Ready to take down Caesar now? (The game is in Las Vegas with Caesar’s Palace just nearby.)

Apparently the reason Roman numerals were used in the first place is to make the Super Bowl look a little fancier and more theatrical. I mean, that tracks. Super Bowl LVIII feels much more like there’s about to be a huge battle rather than an Usher half-time show flagged by a few quarters of professional football. And while the Super Bowl feels like it’s been a part of the American sports system forever, 58 years really isn’t that old. We’ve got a long way to go before there’s a big Super Bowl C (that’s Super Bowl 100).

But whether you’re using this opportunity to brush up on your ancient languages or just want to dive headfirst into some epic Super Bowl snacks, it’s nice to have a little Roman numeral knowledge on Game Day when the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. Impress your friends with some Roman numeral math problems and then get to the real fuss of the day — making sure Taylor Swift gets her first Super Bowl ring after only six months in the league.