Here’s What Minnesota’s First Super Bowl Halftime Show Looked Like
Before Bad Bunny lights up the Super Bowl LX halftime stage, let’s rewind to the very first time the Big Game came to Minnesota, and when the halftime show was definitely NOT like the pop superstar spectacle we know today!
The Minnesota Vikings may not have ever won the Super Bowl, but the Land of 10,000 Lakes is in the exclusive club of places that have hosted the Big Game-- twice, in fact. But you have to travel back in time 34 years to find the first time a Super Bowl was held here in the North Star State.
Super Bowl XXVI: When the Big Game First Landed in Minnesota
A lot has changed since 1992-- especially when it comes to the halftime show. Even though it took place 8 years ago, you might still remember Justin Timberlake's performance during Super Bowl LII, held February 4th, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium. While it's nearly a decade old now, it's still light-years ahead of what happened the first time Minnesota hosted the Big Game.
SEE ALSO: The Best Super Bowl Commercial EVER Was Made in Minnesota
For that, you have to go back in time over 34 years to January 26, 1992, when Super Bowl XXVI (that's 26 for the Roman numeral-impaired) took place at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Redskins ended up beating the Bills in that game, 27-24, btw.
But who did the halftime show back then? Was it Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, or maybe MC Hammer, stars who all had top-five hits in 1992? Uh, not quite. Keep in mind that this was well before today's era of big-time pop stars or groups that get the honor of performing on the world's biggest stage.
Minnesota’s 1992 Halftime Show: Snowflakes and Inflatable Snowmen
Back then, organizers instead featured shows that tried to catch the flavor of the host city. This MPR story says a company named Timberline Productions of Phoenix was hired to produce the first Super Bowl halftime show ever held here in the Bold North. They'd done things like Sesame Street Live, the story said, but never a halftime show.
Their production was called 'Winter Magic,' and MPR summed it up like this:
"It was built around Minneapolis being a place that does winter right. A barrage of people dressed like snowflakes, inflatable snowmen, and what appeared to be 5 percent of the state's population, descended upon the field for 12 minutes of gosh-darn-wholesome goodness."
Yeah. Not quite Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Rihanna, or Justin Timberlake, is it? If you're up to it, take a look at what it looked like 34 years ago, and be glad things have evolved a bit since then.
Watch the 'Winter Magic' Performance from the 1992 Metrodome Super Bowl
'Winter Magic' will definitely go down as one of the strange facts about our fine state. And then keep scrolling to check out 10 other facts you probably don't know about the North Star State!
10 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Minnesota
More From KROC-AM
