The Search For Square One
Be a part of history – join the Super Squares team in a quest to uncover the first ever Super Bowl Squares game – Square One.
Welcome to the “Search for Square One.” We’re on a mission to find the original Super Bowl Squares game, and we need your help. Watch our video from Frank Maggio, the inventor of Super Squares®, the first Super Bowl Squares game show. Then, post your personal experiences, as well as any information you may have that can help us locate the inventor of the Super Bowl Squares game.
While you’re at it, why not post a picture of the oldest Super Bowl squares game you have – we’re going to purchase original squares grids, boards, handouts, etc., to decorate the Super Bowl Squares museum at Super Squares® HQ, in Largo Florida. Thanks for Reacting!
UPDATES: Feb. 4, 2022
- Oldest Discovered Squares Game Grid to date: 2007, Super Bowl XLI (41)
- Discovered by: Marc Edelman, Forbes.com Contributor
COMMENTS:
This image was part of a 2014 article on Forbes.com, by senior contributor Marc Edelman, entitled “The Legal Risks of Super Bowl Square Pools.” It’s not a complete unaltered image – we sure would like to get access to the original, and in color, if possible!
Note: The Super Squares® team will research and attempt to verify photos and specimens prior to posting on this site.
Hey its Snarky! Take a minute and share your first Super Bowl Square’s experience. What happened? We will give credit to the oldest, verified squares game we can find.
My first Super Bowl Squares game? 1989, Super Bowl XXIII, 49ers vs Bengals. My buddy “Sarasota Todd” told me about it, lost my $10, and been hooked ever since.
Todd’s checking his friends to find out who introduced it to him – I believe some Indiana buddies.
Wish I had a copy – I’d post it here. Still looking, though.
Luv it! A(Squared) + B(Squared) = Perfect(Squared)
Family tradition for 10+ years… each year kiddos line up, pick squares, and win Dad’s money. Lol… I am sure I’ve saved each card over past 10 years. Sample attached.
My first Super Bowl Square was played with a group of people from a hospital. And we were able to pick 2 shares, this was back in 1998/1999. I won maybe $75.00. And I split with someone. It was fun. So I have not played since then.
The first time I played on paper was at a job 10 years ago. My manager creates the board. It was weird at first because I didn’t understand it really. I haven’t spoke to my manager in years but I will try and reach out.
The first time I played your Super Squares was last year’s Super Bowl. I placed 1st in my Group and was somewhere in the top 25 in the country. I won 500 in gift cards, so thank you.
I haven’t been able to really play that much since because of work and family but I will be playing for sure on Super Bowl Sunday. And hopefully a lot more going forward.
One last thing. It was Paul Allen from KFAN in Minnesota that turned me on to your Super Squares.
1979, Pittsburgh and Dallas. Was watching game with several buddies in Sitka, Alaska. One of the guys pulled out a napkin, drew out a grid and told us to pick a square for $1 a piece until it sold out. I didn’t win anything, but it was great fun. I wish I had that napkin.
my mom won a couple times in 1972 thanks to Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers – games 1 and 7 ended with identical 3-2 scores.
In high school 1977 I was in a block pool for the Super Bowl. It was Minnesota vs Oakland. I hit one of the squares for 50 bucks an was hooked ever since.
A few years ago I had 0-0 for Steeler game and I hit the 1st 3 quarters. The peculiar thing about that was it was 0-0 after 1, 10-0 after 2, and 20-0 after 3.
In the search for the beginning of the fun squares game, I will add my recollections!
My Mothers Birthday is February 5th, which until the year with this extended season and extra game, is often Super bowl weekend So we had Super Bowl Birthday! From the time I returned from university about mid 70s , I recall having a pot of Chili and Chicken pot pies for half time, along with a big squares game on an easel with a charitable donation box at $5 a square and when that one was sold out, another one appeared until 10 minutes before the start of the game or there were no more takers. Half the pot went to the charity of the day. Everyone was invited to write the name of the charity and the slips of paper were put in a hat and at half time after food the youngest person there picked a name right before kickoff. . Boys and Girls club, Susan Koman Cancer (who is Nancy Brinker ‘s sister and one of the girls Think pink) , local shelters food banks , migrant worker children and many others were helped out over the years anonymously of course .I think our Priest took care of the distribution. Seems to me the older men were the ones who started the game and Mom got the cardboard and a we kids had to draw the grids up .. BTW we are at Palm Beach Polo and this was of course after Sunday Mass then the Polo game ..then back to Moms for the big game ..and many time the almost burned Chili !Sadly the place has been sold and any of the squares are long gone ..
Hope that helps
Jane Tennyson Lee
Aka a1bengal@yahoo.com
When do I pick squares?
I’ve been playing since day one…oh good for me right??? On my lunch time run I heard the Matt Birk pitch Super Squares on KFAN Before the 2020 launch. Luckily my short attention span paid off and I went home and remembered to download the app and gave it a try. I’ve been hooked since! To be fair I’ve had successes and have enjoyed getting friends and family involved . My “buddies” are the best teammates I could have.
My first squares experience with football squares was the 1993 Thanksgiving game featuring the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins. I was nine years old at a Thanksgiving get together. My dad paid my entry fee for squares that day, my first experience. I happened to be wearing a Cowboys sweatshirt that day. The game came down to the Dolphins needing a field goal to hit my winning square in the fourth quarter to win the pot. I remember stripping off the Cowboys shirt in front of the Thanksgiving party, laying it on the floor, praying the Dolphins would scrape enough snow off the turf on from an abnormal November Texas snow to seal the win netting me a $30 pot…that a remember. To a nine year old that was a fortune! The agony when Dallas blocked the kick and the swing of Leon Lett touching the ball giving the Dolphins a second chance for a second field goal attempt was priceless high. When the Dolphins converted I was hooked. Squares was a game I’ve played since that 1993 miracle.
I knew 2020 was a trying year for everyone. My dad was battling Prostate Cancer that fall 2020 and sadly succumbed to the disease the day after the Super Bowl 2021. From my first introduction to the football squares game, whenever it may have started…to this day I’ll remember my start first experience. The ups and downs the game brings. In the end I’ve learned whatever the outcome it’s the people along for the the ride that make it memorable.
It all started back before the preseason 2020-2021 when the “Commish” Matty Burke made his first appearance on PA’s show on KFAN radio announcing a “Hot, New, Squares Game” that combined the fun of a football squares games with the skills of picking football games outcomes. An unpolished gem of an idea that has worked at improving and expanding the idea each and every week of the NFL season giving players real shots at winning Great Prizes!
And… The great thing is, despite the end of another exciting NFL season, is now we will get a second season of NHL Squares to sink our teeth into. A special thanks to all the people who make Super Squares a rewarding part of my weekends for over two years!.
FreddyMeck
I played my first “super bowl box game” in January of ’84. I remember very little about the lopsided Raiders victory over the Redskins that night, but do recall my frustration over not having a winning box. This was a super bowl party hosted by my high school football teammate’s parents. No large cash prize on the table. In fact, I don’t remember paying anything to participate. I have since hosted several box games for workmates with modest payouts for winners. Always makes the super bowl more intriguing.