Lucas Oil Stadium was a multi-purpose sports arena equipped with an automatic retractable roof. It was located in downtown Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana. The stadium's prefabricated concrete exterior walls echoed the brick façades of the city's historic garment district. The clever combination of precast concrete sandwich insulation wall panels and brick created an elegant exterior appearance.
The 46th Super Bowl was held in this very stadium.
Although his Los Angeles Raiders had reached the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year, Duke had no plans to enter the locker room. Together with Scarlett Johansson and Leonardo DiCaprio, he went straight to the VIP box of the stadium.
Today, Lucas Oil Stadium was packed to the brim. Its fiery atmosphere could surpass any other event. Sitting in the box and looking out, Duke saw a sea of people—an awe-inspiring sight.
In North America, no event could compare to the Super Bowl.
"It's been so long since I watched a Super Bowl live."
Seeing the scene before her, Scarlett couldn't help but recall her childhood, when she used to pester Duke to take her to the Super Bowl. Back then, she wasn't interested in the game itself but wanted to see the Victoria's Secret Angels perform during halftime. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed.
Thinking of this, she reached out and tightly held Duke's hand. Seeing Duke turn to look at her, she gave him a sweet smile and asked, "Can we take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy?"
Without even thinking, Duke replied, "We'll definitely take it."
Compared to Duke's absolute confidence, Leonardo DiCaprio seemed somewhat worried. He turned to the two of them and said, "The Raiders' opponent is the New York Giants!"
As the number one seed in the National Football Conference, the New York Giants had set an NFL record of 21 consecutive victories this season and had reached the Super Bowl six times—winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 1987, 1991, and 2008.
Leonardo reminded them again, "We have Tom Brady, but the Giants have Eli Manning."
Duke nodded. Compared to last year's Super Bowl opponent, the New York Giants were undoubtedly much stronger now.
Mentioning the name "Manning," anyone in America with even a bit of knowledge about sports would instantly recognize it. It was the number one football family in the country—American football was in the Manning family's blood, passed down from generation to generation.
Eli Manning's father, Archie Manning, had played quarterback for the University of Mississippi and, during his 14-year professional football career, was selected for the Pro Bowl twice. His eldest brother, Cooper Manning, also played as a wide receiver but was forced to retire early after suffering a severe spinal injury. His second brother, Peyton Manning, and Eli Manning had both been trained and influenced by their father since childhood and showed exceptional talent in football.
However, Eli Manning's professional career was not smooth sailing. As the 2004 NFL first overall draft pick who joined the New York Giants, his early performances were immature and heavily criticized by the local media. Nevertheless, he never lost confidence. Through steady improvement, he gradually won the trust of the team and the love of fans.
Both Peyton and Eli Manning were now superstar quarterbacks on par with Tom Brady. Peyton Manning had risen to fame first and was hailed as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. By this season, he had made history as a four-time NFL regular season MVP, had led his team to the AFC Championship four times, and achieved his greatest honor in 2007—leading the Indianapolis Colts to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy while being named Super Bowl MVP.
In 2008, Eli Manning followed in Peyton's footsteps. As a quarterback, he led the New York Giants to the Super Bowl championship and also claimed that year's Super Bowl MVP title.
The two brothers together wrote a legendary chapter for the Manning family in professional football.
An outstanding quarterback could bring a qualitative change to a team's offense—just as Tom Brady had done for the current Los Angeles Raiders. In last year's AFC Championship, Brady's passing directly changed the outcome of the game, leading the Raiders into the Super Bowl.
Eli Manning had similar heroic moments. In the 2008 42nd Super Bowl, facing the New England Patriots, the Giants were in a highly disadvantageous position. With only 35 seconds remaining, Eli threw a pass to Plaxico Burress for a touchdown, completing a miraculous 17–14 comeback. This not only ended the Patriots' perfect 18–0 season record but also helped the Giants reclaim NFL supremacy after 18 years.
It was no exaggeration to say that the New York Giants were far more difficult opponents than last year's Green Bay Packers.
Duke, who had once been an amateur quarterback himself, understood the game well but had never interfered with team affairs. He knew that compared to professional players, his own skills were far from sufficient.
Could the Los Angeles Raiders win?
In Duke's view, the Raiders' offense wasn't a problem—the key was whether their defense could apply enough pressure on Eli Manning to limit his performance.
However, right after the game began, the Raiders, who had the first possession, suffered a harsh blow—the Giants' defense gave Tom Brady a heavy greeting.
In the first quarter of the first half, during a 1st-and-10 play, Brady was sacked by Giants defensive lineman Anderson. The Raiders' following offensive plays failed, forcing them to punt and surrender possession.
Still, the Raiders' defense also performed excellently, putting tremendous pressure on the Giants' offensive line. Eli Manning even threw a pass into an empty zone, resulting in a penalty. With 8:52 left, the Raiders' defense scored a safety, taking a 2–0 lead.
In the early stages, both teams' defenses performed exceptionally well.
In the next drive, on 2nd-and-3, Brady's pass to the right was intercepted by a Giants cornerback—but the Giants made a substitution error, fielding twelve players, and were penalized.
The two sides continued to battle fiercely until 3:24 left in the first quarter, when the second score finally appeared. Led by Tom Brady, the Raiders' offensive line opened a narrow gap through the Giants' defense. Running back Marshawn Lynch charged through the hole, broke free from tackles, and completed a 20-yard rushing touchdown. The kicker then made the extra point, extending the lead to 9–0.
The Los Angeles Raiders had built a nine-point lead in the first quarter.
"Looks like we're going to win," Scarlett said.
Although she wasn't a fan, Scarlett Johansson, who was born and raised in the United States, had no trouble understanding the game. "The Giants don't seem to be in very good form today."
Indeed, the Giants' offensive lineup—especially Eli Manning—seemed completely out of rhythm.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who had been shouting excitedly throughout, said with enthusiasm, "Duke, buying into the Raiders with you was absolutely the right decision."
"You should thank me, Leo." Duke shrugged, deliberately teasing him. "The Raiders' shares have far more appreciation potential than your collection of famous paintings and they'll never be left without a buyer."
Hearing Duke's words, Leonardo showed a helpless smile. In his younger days, he had spent a fortune collecting many artworks. Those so-called antiques and masterpieces could easily fetch millions or even tens of millions of dollars at auction houses like Sotheby's. Yet once they were bought by private collectors, reselling them for cash became extremely difficult.
It was perfectly fair to describe them as "valuable but with no market." Those artworks hyped and manipulated by speculators and auction houses might seem priceless once purchased by individuals, but finding the next buyer was almost impossible.
This was a widespread phenomenon in the entire antiques and art industry. Outsiders always saw some item being auctioned for an astronomical price and assumed the field was a gold mine. But only people like Leonardo—who had suffered huge losses—understood that most of these items were artificially inflated.
The most typical examples were the blue-and-white porcelains and certain beast-head relics from across the Pacific. Just like the Western paintings Leonardo had bought at high prices, there were countless shady dealings behind them—something only the speculators and auction houses truly knew.
The so-called masterpieces Leonardo had purchased had been sitting unsold for years. He had long given up the idea of continuing to spend lavishly on art and, like Duke, had begun investing in more practical industries.
Undoubtedly, NFL teams possessed tremendous value—not only in market capitalization but also in profitability. For instance, the Los Angeles Raiders had earned nearly 150 million dollars in profit last season thanks to their Super Bowl victory.
If Leonardo ever wanted to sell his ten percent stake in the Raiders, it would never be like those paintings—he wouldn't struggle to find a buyer. In fact, the number of people wanting to invest would easily fill half of Lucas Oil Stadium.
And not just the Raiders—last year, Leonardo had also become an investor in the Israeli-origin social network Mobli for 4 million dollars. Founded in 2010, this social platform focused mainly on sharing user photos and videos. It already had more than 13 million registered users and a market valuation close to one billion dollars.
After a few more words between the three, the game resumed.
The previously sluggish New York Giants suddenly exploded in the second quarter—especially Eli Manning, who completely shook off his poor first-quarter performance and delivered an excellent showing. With just eight seconds remaining before halftime, he completed a touchdown pass, followed by a successful extra point. The Giants instead led 10–9 heading into halftime.
The most anticipated Super Bowl halftime show thus officially began.