Super Bowl 2024: Chiefs v 49ers - UK start time, half-time show, how to follow on BBC & will Taylor Swift be there?

The Super Bowl is a sporting and cultural phenomenon, as much about the spectacle as the game itself.

Now the show is set to be bigger and better than ever as - for the very first time - the NFL's championship game is taking place under the bright lights of Las Vegas.

Sin City has been transformed into a sports city over the past decade and now the biggest annual event in American sport will be staged on the Strip.

Defending champions Kansas City will play in their fourth Super Bowl in five years and 'Chiefs Kingdom' has gained a legion of new fans this season as music superstar Taylor Swift has been a regular at games since she began dating tight end Travis Kelce.

They face one of the NFL's most popular teams in the San Francisco 49ers, who have won five Super Bowls but lost on their last trip to the big game - to the Chiefs in 2020.

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There is normally lots of speculation about the half-time show but it seems casual fans are more interested in whether Swift will be there than who might join Usher on stage.

Either way, dozens of music and screen stars will be at Allegiant Stadium for all the glitz and glamour of a Vegas Super Bowl.

The game starts at 23:30 GMT on Sunday and you'll be able to follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app, plus live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, followed by post-match video highlights.

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Can Chiefs cement dynasty and Mahomes chase down Brady?

Kansas City have not been at their scintillating best this season yet Andy Reid's team still have a chance to become just the fourth team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in five years.

After winning last year's classic in Phoenix, Arizona, Patrick Mahomes became the 13th quarterback to win multiple Super Bowls. Victory in Vegas would see him become just the fifth quarterback to win three - and Reid the fifth coach to win three.

Tom Brady holds the all-time record of seven Super Bowl wins and retired last year as the NFL's GOAT, but are we already watching the man who will take that title off him?

Mahomes has some way to go, of course but, at just 28, another NFL title on Sunday would keep him firmly on track to surpass Brady's many records.

It would also see the Chiefs cement their dynasty by becoming the NFL's first back-to-back champions since Brady's New England Patriots in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

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It's a family affair for the 49ers

Christian McCaffrey is expected to be named this season's Offensive Player of the Year during Super Bowl week

San Francisco have not won the Super Bowl since the days of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Steve Young, who helped the 49ers win five from 1982 to 1995.

They have since lost two - in 2013 and 2020 - and after building a star-studded roster in his seven years in charge, coach Kyle Shanahan hopes for his first Super Bowl win.

The mid-season addition of Christian McCaffrey in 2022 took the 49ers to another level and the star running back aims to emulate his father Ed. The former wide receiver helped the 49ers win Super Bowl 29 before winning two more with Denver under Kyle's father Mike Shanahan.

The families were close, and it was rumoured a teenage Kyle used to babysit Christian, although it turns out his sister was actually in charge.

While the Chiefs have potentially the future GOAT, the 49ers are led by Brock Purdy, who was the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft - which comes with the title of 'Mr Irrelevant'.

Yet Purdy became San Francisco's starting quarterback in December 2022 and the 24-year-old has continued to prove his doubters wrong, reaching the Super Bowl in his first full season.

• Get American Football alerts in the BBC Sport app

Will Taylor Swift be at the Super Bowl?

Some called last year's big game the Kelce Bowl as it was the first Super Bowl to feature brothers on opposing teams.

Jason and Travis Kelce expected a media circus during Super Bowl week, but it was nothing compared to what Travis has experienced since his relationship with Taylor Swift became public when she attended her first Chiefs game on 24 September.

The NFL and broadcasters have embraced the extra attention Swift's presence has brought to the league, although perhaps it has gone to Jason's head.

With his Philadelphia Eagles having been knocked out of the play-offs, Jason met his younger brother's new girlfriend for the first time at Kansas City's game in a freezing Buffalo and celebrated a Travis touchdown by taking his shirt off, jumping into the crowd and chugging a beer with the Bills fans.

Now fans are wondering if they will both be at Super Bowl 58, in particular Swift as she is playing a concert in Tokyo the night before. Even the Japanese Embassy has got involved, saying that given Tokyo is 17 hours behind Vegas and it's a 12-hour flight, "she should comfortably" arrive in time.

As for whether Jason manages to keep his shirt on, that's anyone's guess.

Half-time show the 'honour of a lifetime'

Usher, who now lives in Las Vegas, has been a regular on the Strip over the last couple of years

Usher appeared as a special guest of the Black Eyed Peas during the 2011 half-time show but now the American R&B star is the headline act.

The 45-year-old completed a 100-show residency in Vegas in December and has been such a hit on the Strip that he was awarded the key to the city in October.

He said being the Super Bowl headliner is the "honour of a lifetime" and promised "a show unlike anything else they've seen from me before".

While the only surprise for last year's half-time show was Rihanna's pregnancy reveal, Usher has collaborated with many artists who could make a guest appearance. Who knows, perhaps he'll ask Swift to join him.

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This year's Super Bowl stats

• Las Vegas is the 16th city to host the Super Bowl

• Completed in 2020, the Allegiant Stadium cost $1.9bn and has a capacity of 65,000

• The cheapest resale ticket costs about $5,200

• The US TV audience is expected to be more than 100m (one in three US adults)

• TV commercials will cost about $7m for a 30-second slot, with more than 50 advertisers featured

• Advertising on the Sphere has sold out for Super Bowl week, with only two brands appearing on Super Bowl Sunday, for which they have each paid more than $1.5m

• The National Chicken Council predicts that 1.45bn chicken wings will be eaten during the game

• The American Gaming Association says a record 67.8m American adults (26%) are expected to bet on the game, with an estimated $23.1bn being wagered

• Super Bowl 58 is expected to generate more than $600m for the Las Vegas economy, with 330,000 visitors expected