How Many Sides Have Retained the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl is key date in the calendar for all NFL supporters as it’s the annual grand final of the American Football season, which determines who becomes champion of the league.

The first Super Bowl dates back to 1967, which was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Green Bay Packers were victorious after beating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in front of over 61,000 fans.

Historically, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have both won 6 Super Bowl titles, with the San Francisco 49ers as well as the Dallas Cowboys triumphing on 5 occasions.

Not only were the Green Bay Packers champions at Super Bowl I, but they also backed it up by winning Super Bowl II in 1968, meaning the Packers were the first team to retain the championship.

Taking place on January 14th in Miami Florida, the Packers defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in what could be described as a rousing defensive battle between the sides. Even though the first quarter only saw a 3-point lead to the packers, they began to run away with the contest during the second and 3rd quarters.

In front of a crowd exceeding 75,000, it would be Packers head coach Vince Lombardi's last game as head coach after serving 9 years with the team.

Many other teams have followed on from the success of the Green Bay Packers in NFL history. Here are the other teams who have joined this exclusive club in retaining the Super Bowl.

Miami Dolphins: 1973 - 1974

VII: A narrow 14-7 victory over Washington Redskins saw them win their first Super Bowl at the LA Memorial Coliseum on January 14th

VII: The Dolphins secured back-to-back Super Bowl championships after a comfortable 24-7 win over Minnesota Vikings at the Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 1975 - 1976 and 1979 - 1980

IX: Claiming their first title, the Steelers beat the Vikings who were appearing in their second successive Super Bowl. The Steelers ran out 16-6 winners on January 12th at the Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

X: A 21-7 Victory over Dallas Cowboys saw the Steelers become the third side to earn consecutive Super Bowl titles at the Miami Orange Bowl in Florida.

XIII: The Steelers weren’t done, a third Super Bowl title came three years later after a high scoring 35-31 triumph over the Cowboys yet again, which was even played at the same venue as the 1976 final.

XIV: A 4th title in 6 years came at the Rose Bowl in California after Pittsburgh beat the LA Rams 31-19, becoming the first team to retain the Super Bowl on two occasions. San Francisco 49ers: 1989 - 1990

XXIII: After winning two Super Bowls in the teams’ history, the 49ers made it 3 after beating Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 at the Jon Robbie Stadium in Miami.

XXIV: The 49ers retained the Super Bowl for the first time in stylish fashion with a comprehensive 55-10 victory over Denver Broncos at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Dallas Cowboys: 1993 - 1994

XXVII: The Cowboys were the next team to retain the Super Bowl. A comprehensive 52-17 victory against Buffalo Bills at the Rose Bowl earned them a 3rd Super Bowl gong.

XXVIII: At the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Dallas did the double over the Bills. It was a tighter affair with the Cowboys running out 30-13 winners.

Denver Broncos: 1998 - 1999

XXXII: After 4 failed appearances, Denver registered their first Super Bowl success over Green Bay Packers at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The Broncos edged past the 3 times winners 31-24.

XXXIII: The Broncos secured consecutive Super Bowl titles at the Pro-Player Stadium in Miami, defeating Atlanta 34-19.

New England Patriots: 2004 - 2005

XXXVII: New England Patriots registered their second Super Bowl victory over Carolina Panthers in a tightly contested 32-29 encounter at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. This was also the second Super Bowl to take place in February, which has been the case ever since.

XXXVIII: They retained the Super Bowl against Philadelphia Eagles in another close match. The game ended 24-21 at the Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

With the Steelers being the only team to retain the Super Bowl title on two separate occasions, they fall into second place when it comes to having the best retaining streak based on consecutive victories at the Super Bowl, with four straight wins between 1975-1980. The Steelers were the dominant team during this period, but they couldn’t expand on this success, with the next Super Bowl success coming in 2006.

It turns out the San Francisco 49ers had 5 consecutive victories at the Super Bowl between 1982-1995 respectively. The majority of this was under head coach Bill Walsh, whose tenure saw 3 Super Bowl victories before the 49ers most successful coach, George Seifert took the reins. Seifert was victorious in two Super Bowls and had a 98-30-0 record.