MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA—The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on Sunday, February 2, to win Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The victory ended the franchise’s 50-year championship drought. A culturally significant halftime show featuring Latina superstars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira met mostly rave reviews—albeit some controversy from those who found it too risqué for younger audiences or dismissive of the N.F.L.’s past conflicts with race and open protests. According to the Associated Press, the big game’s attendance was 62,417. But despite it being the second-lowest attendance total since Super Bowl I, it was the 10th most-watched Super Bowl in history, according to Fox, with a total of 102 million viewers—more than making up for last year's event, which barely broke 100 million.
Miami became an event planner's playground, with an onslaught of events taking place throughout the region. Though South Florida’s unpredictable weather did not always hold up, which caused some performance cancellations (Harry Styles at Planet Pepsi Zero Sugar party and rained-out stages and rides at Shaq’s Fun House), that didn't stop partygoers and tailgaters from hopping from one experiential event to the next over-the-top concert, and so on. Here’s a look at how the football fandom took over South Florida.