Super Bowl XL meetings held in Atlanta, two years before the stadium opened in 2002; the only previous Super Bowl held in the Detroit area, Super Bowl XVI, had been played at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982 (also between teams from the AFC North and NFC West divisions [the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers, respectively], though the AFC North was called the Central at that time). The NFL promoted this Super Bowl under the slogan "The Road to Forty." The slogan not only honored the 40-year history of the game, but was a nod to Detroit's traditional role as the center of
America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions to be in the Top 20 as the voting was done prior to Super Bowl XL. "Following the original 40-episode run, the show took on an annual format. Beginning with Super Bowl XLI and the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, a new episode would air the following September on NFL Network in order to commemorate the reigning Super Bowl Champions." A spinoff series, "America's Game: The Missing Rings", debuted on September 18, 2008 and aired for five consecutive Thursdays after that, starting at 10 p.m. ET. In this series, the producers picked five teams that did not win the Super Bowl and