The Simpsons Sort of Predicted the San Francisco 49ers Winning the Super Bowl in Miami

A 1999 episode of The Simpsons that aired after Super Bowl XXXIII, a meeting between the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos, somewhat predicted the San Francisco 49ers winning over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV in Miami. In Season 10 episode “Sunday, Cruddy Sunday,” Bart and Homer assemble a gang of guys to travel to Miami with travel agent Wally Kogen (voice of guest star Fred Willard) to attend the Super Bowl. When Wally’s tickets prove to be counterfeit, an assist from Dolly Parton (appearing as herself) and a series of mishaps results in the Springfieldians being swept into the winning locker room of a team wearing outfits resembling those worn by the 49ers.

Because the episode was animated before teams were determined for Super Bowl XXXIII, it’s coincidence the outfits worn by the winning team — in reality, the Denver Broncos — were colored with red jerseys, white numbers, and brown pants, resembling the color scheme sported by the 49ers. (In reality, neither team wore red jerseys in the meeting that ended with the Broncos victorious over the Falcons, 34-19.)

According to commentary included on The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season box set, there was not enough time for animators to acknowledge the Broncos and the Falcons by reanimating the scene.

Because the filmmakers wanted the episode to be current with Super Bowl XXXIII, they opted for a gag drawing attention to conspicuously dubbed over lines: in a scene at Moe’s Tavern, beer mugs are used to obscure Moe and Homer’s mouths as blatantly dubbed over lines insert the names of the real-life teams playing in that year’s Big Game.

The Simpsons has often famously “predicted” the future — including viral claims the long-running animated series predicted the Coronavirus outbreak in a 1993 episode — and the series’ Miami-set Super Bowl episode depicting a red-and-brown clad team winning the Big Game has some thinking the San Francisco 49ers are destined to be named Super Bowl LIV champions.

Super Bowl LIV marks the first time in history a Super Bowl has featured two teams with red as a primary color. While the uniforms worn by the winners in The Simpsons more closely resemble those typically associated with the 49ers, San Francisco on Sunday will wear white tops with gold pants, while Kansas City will wear red jerseys and white pants — meaning neither team will exactly resemble the winning team in The Simpsons. But that isn’t stopping hopeful 49er supporters from crossing their fingers the “prediction” proves true:

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