Just like about everyone else on the planet, many local residents will be tuned in to Super Bowl XLVI (46), set for Sunday with kick-off set for 5:30 p.m. on NBC.

In honor of the game, which will pit the New England Patriots against the New York Giants in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII (42), The Salem (MA) News came up with some interesting facts about the Super Bowl. Some of those facts included:

–This will be the first Super Bowl in which two Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks (New England’s Tom Brady, New York’s Eli Manning) will have faced each other.

–According to cnbc.com, the Super Bowl is the second-biggest day for food consumption in America — surpassed only by Thanksgiving.

–Maybe it’s all the food, but an estimated 7 million U.S. employees will be no-shows for work the day after the Super Bowl.

–Companies are paying a total of $3.5 million for one 30-second commercial to be played during the Super Bowl. That’s over $100,000 per second.

–Las Vegas expects approximately $90 million in bets to be placed in Sin City for the Super Bowl. The day after, calls to Gamblers Anonymous are on the rise. This is according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

–Only 5 percent of approximately 11 million Americans watching the Super Bowl will do it alone. But that’s more than the number watching it at bars or restaurants (about 9 million).The rest are at Super Bowl parties (estimated 7.5 million parties), and probably watching them on nice TVs. Last year, 4.5 million TV sets were sold during the week of the Super Bowl. That is according to tidbitfun.com.

April Moore Pier will be watching at a special venue. She told Towntalk on its Facebook page that “My fabulous husband Aaron is the board president of Lubbock’s Children’s Advocacy Center. They are having a fundraiser at the Science Spectrum Sunday and are showing the game in the Omnimax Theater. That’s where we’ll be.”

The CAC’s “Big Game Blowout” is open to the public. The game will be broadcast on the Omnimax screen as well as four other screens located in the building.

The cost is $35 per person, although children ages 5-12 get in for free. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. There will be free non-alcoholic drinks and a wide variety of snacks. Alcoholic drinks will be for sale at the event. Also, childcare will be available.

For more information call the CAC at 740-0251.

And while many people feel a connection to the Patriots because of former Texas Tech player Wes Welker, Brownfield’s Jim Neill played for the New York Giants in 1937. He spent one year with the Giants. He didn’t play in 1938, but in 1939 he played for the Chicago Cardinals.

Enjoy the game – wherever you are!