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NFL scraps Roman numerals for Super Bowl 50

The NFL is planning to take a one-year break from Roman numerals for Super Bowl 50. Should the league make this a permanent change instead?

By Sean Yuille
Win McNamee

One of the traditions of the Super Bowl is to refer to each game with Roman numerals. Last season was Super Bowl XLVIII, for example, and next season it'll be Super Bowl XLIX. For the 50th edition of the game, it was going to look a bit awkward with it being called Super Bowl L, so the NFL decided to ditch Roman numerals for one year and go with Super Bowl 50 instead.

The NFL is planning to return to its traditional style for Super Bowl LI, so this isn't going to be a permanent departure from Roman numerals. Should it be, though? Rather than just make this change for Super Bowl 50, I think it'd make more sense to simply ditch Roman numerals for good. I get that there is tradition behind this format, but I honestly think it's kind of a pointless exercise at this point.

At the same time, I think the NFL needs to stop having basically the same logo for every Super Bowl. Before, each logo was unique and typically had some kind of connection to the city hosting the game. Now, though, it's just the same boring look with a few small changes from year to year.

I say ditch the Roman numerals for good and go back to the old logo setup as well. What do you think?

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