Good morning. This is LEADOFF, today’s early look inside Atlanta sports.
Super Bowl LIII, which will be played in Atlanta next year, now has two logos.
The first, which was unveiled in September by the Atlanta host committee, is a red-and-gray logo that prominently features the city's name and a representation of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium retractable roof.
The second, unveiled Monday by the NFL, is a deep blue and light gray logo that features the Roman numeral LIII and the Lombardi Trophy. The logo is similar to that used by the league for the past two Super Bowls, with the “L” to the left of the trophy and the “I’s” to the right.
Host committees’ logos are used mostly locally, while the NFL’s Super Bowl logos are used nationally and globally.
On the Atlanta host committee’s logo, the representation of the roof takes a bit of creative license by adding goal posts as part of the outline of the eight retractable panels.
While the NFL logo is blue and gray, the league also plans to use “electric red” as part of its color palette for the game in other graphics.
The third Super Bowl in Atlanta, and the first since 2000, will be played Feb. 3, 2019.
A large Atlanta delegation attended Sunday's Super Bowl in Minneapolis and the week-long events leading to the game. At a news conference Monday morning, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell officially "handed off" Super Bowl hosting responsibilities to Atlanta.
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Almost eight million fewer viewers across the country watched the Super Bowl on television Sunday than watched the game a year earlier, according to Nielsen data released Monday. NBC's telecast of the Philadelphia Eagles' 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots averaged 103.4 million viewers, down 7.1 percent from 111.3 million for the Patriots' win over the Falcons last year.
Sunday’s game posted a 47.4 rating across the nation’s metered markets, hitting an eight-year low for the Super Bowl, and was slightly below that level in Atlanta. The game drew a 47.1 rating in the Atlanta TV market, ranking 29th among the 56 metered markets.
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