The first participants in Super Bowl 2024 have been announced: The referee team has been announced.

This weekend, four teams will battle it out in the NFC and AFC Championship Games for a place in the Super Bowl on February 11 in Las Vegas. The San Francisco 49ers will face the Detroit Lions and the Baltimore Ravens the Kansas City Chiefs.

The first Super Bowl participants have already been confirmed: the NFL has announced the referee team for the grand final for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The referee is Bill Vinovich. He has already refereed two Super Bowls. One was the New England Patriots’ 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on February 1, 2015.

And on February 2, 2020, the Chiefs’ 31:20 win over the 49ers, which was quarterback superstar Patrick Mahomes’ first Super Bowl victory.

The Super Bowl officiating crew: pic.twitter.com/jvZrH19yLe

– Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 23, 2024

The 63-year-old Vinovich is currently in his 18th season in the NFL and his 15th as a referee. Super Bowl LVIII will be Vinovich’s 19th postseason assignment, including three wild-card games, seven divisional round games and six conference championships.

plus the three Super Bowls. His most recent appearance came last weekend in the Detroit Lions’ win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Most fans will remember Vinovich primarily for a bad decision in the playoffs. In the NFC Championship Game in January 2019 between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints, the referees overlooked a clear pass interference or helmet-to-helmet hit by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on wide receiver Tommylee Lewis and thus indirectly decided the game