Back Super Bowl XLIV AST Super Bowl XLIV Danish Super Bowl XLIV German Super Bowl XLIV Spanish Super Bowl XLIV Finnish Super Bowl XLIV French Super Bowl XLIV Croatian Super Bowl XLIV Hungarian Super Bowl XLIV ID Super Bowl XLIV Italian
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| Date | February 7, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Drew Brees, quarterback[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Colts by 5[2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Scott Green | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 74,059[4] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | |||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Carrie Underwood[5] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Emmitt Smith, representing the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame class | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | The Who | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Phil Simms (analyst) Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots (sideline reporters) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 45.0 (national)[6] 56.3 (New Orleans) 54.2 (Indianapolis) US viewership: 106.5 million est. avg., 153.4 million est. total[7] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Market share | 68 (national) 82 (New Orleans) 80 (Indianapolis) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of 30-second commercial | $2.5 – $2.8 million[8] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Westwood One | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Marv Albert, Boomer Esiason, James Lofton and Mark Malone | ||||||||||||||||||
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2009 season. The underdog Saints defeated the Colts by a score of 31–17, earning the franchise its first Super Bowl win.[9][10] The game was played at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida, for the fifth time (and in South Florida for the tenth time), on February 7, 2010, which was the latest calendar date for a Super Bowl until Super Bowl LVI in 2022.
This was the Saints' first ever Super Bowl appearance and the fourth for the Colts franchise, and their first since Super Bowl XLI in 2007. The Saints entered the game with a 13–3 record for the 2009 regular season, compared to the Colts' 14–2 record. In the playoff games, both teams placed first in their conferences, marking the first time since Super Bowl XXVIII (16 years previously) that both number-one seeds have reached the Super Bowl. The Colts entered the Super Bowl off victories over the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, while the Saints advanced after defeating the previous year's runners up, the Arizona Cardinals, and then overcoming the Minnesota Vikings in the Conference Championship. It was also the first time both teams started with a 13-game winning streak. This game would also mark the last Super Bowl appearance for both the Colts and Saints as of the upcoming 2024 NFL season.
New Orleans was behind 10–6 at halftime of Super Bowl XLIV. During a play many consider the turning point of the game, Thomas Morstead kicked off the second half with a surprise onside kick. The Saints recovered the kick and soon got their first lead of the game with Pierre Thomas's 16-yard touchdown reception. The Colts responded with Joseph Addai's 4-yard touchdown run to regain the lead at 17–13. The Saints then scored 18 unanswered points, including Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return for a touchdown, to clinch the victory. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns, was named the Super Bowl MVP.[1][11] His 32 completions tied a Super Bowl record set by Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII. The Saints' win was seen as a major morale boost for the city of New Orleans following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, the game would later become controversial by the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, when the NFL determined in 2012 that the Saints operated a slush fund between the 2009 and 2011 seasons to pay out bounties to their players for injuring their opponents.[12]
The live broadcast of the game on CBS was watched by an average U.S. audience of 106.5 million viewers, making it then the most-watched Super Bowl.[7] The National Anthem was sung by American Idol season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, and the halftime show featured the British rock band The Who. Super Bowl XLIV was the last Super Bowl to have a uniquely designed logo as its predecessors had: starting with Super Bowl XLV, the logo was permanently settled to bear the Vince Lombardi Trophy and the Roman numerals denoting the edition of the game. This is also the earliest Super Bowl in which neither team has since re-appeared as of 2023.
- ^ a b Brescia, Joe (July 10, 2010). "Title in Hand, Brees Embraces Platform". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ DiNitto, Marcus (January 25, 2015). "Super Bowl Betting History – Underdogs on Recent Roll". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "Super Bowl History". Vegas Insider. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "Super Bowl Winners". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "Underwood, Latifah sing at Super Bowl". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 28, 2010.
- ^ "CBS Sports Coverage of Super Bowl XLIV Is Most-Watched Program In Television History". TVbytheNumbers.com. February 8, 2010. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
NielsenBlogwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Fredrix, Emily (January 11, 2010). "Super Bowl Commercial Prices Fall For Second Time EVER". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ Cannizzaro, Mark (February 8, 2010). "Underdog Saints stun Colts to bring home New Orleans' first world title". New York Post. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Jenkins, Lee (February 15, 2010). "Super Bowl XLIV: For You, New Orleans". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Battista, Judy (February 7, 2010). "Champs? The Saints, Dat's Who". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ Coffey, Wayne (March 3, 2012). "NFL needs to start cleaning up 'BountyGate' by going after Sean Payton and Gregg Williams for role in Saints' bounty system". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 5, 2012.