Super Bowl LVIII: How do you read those (and other) Roman numerals?

Makea Luzader
·1 min read

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, but wait. How many Super Bowls have we had?

According to a document titled “Super Bowl Notes, Quotes & Anecdotes” that the National Football League (NFL) put out in 2005, the tradition of using Roman numerals started with Super Bowl V in 1971.

The numerals also were added to clear up confusion, according to the NFL document, and the Super Bowl is played in the year after a chronologically recorded season.

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So how do you read the number that follows “Super Bowl?” Well, Roman numerals follow these guidelines:

  • L = 50

  • X = 10

  • V = 5

  • I = 1

If a letter with a smaller value comes before one with a larger value, you want to subtract the smaller value from the larger one. For example, IV is 4 (5-1).

If the smaller value comes after the larger one, you would add the numbers together. Using the same letters from our previous example, but putting them in the order of VI, the number would be 6 (5+1).

Looking at this year’s Roman numerals, LVIII, gives us 50+5+1+1+1 — 58.

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