What The Mayors, Archbishops And Zoos Of LA And Cincinnati Have Wagered On Super Bowl LVI

It's not truly a major sporting event without some friendly wagers going into the game. When the Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers we collected on a bet with the public radio stations in the Bay. (They had to say nice things about Los Angeles.) Let's check in on some of the cross-city action for Super Bowl LVI.

The L.A. Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. on the West Coast. If you're among the vast majority of people who don't have (and probably couldn't afford) a ticket to the game, you can watch live on NBC or wherever that network is streamed.

Now to the bets.

Mayors

The DTLA skyline on Dec. 15, 2021

(Patrick T. Fallon)

Cincinnati, Ohio on Sept. 16, 2021.

(Jeff Dean)

The mayors of L.A. and Cincinnati are putting their own money on the line. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval agree to make a personal donation to the losing city's children's hospital — and to encourage their constituents to do the same.

Also, the losing mayor agrees to wear the winning team's jersey at an upcoming public appearance.

Archbishops

Not to be outdone, the archbishops of Los Angeles and Cincinnati also are getting into the Super Bowl spirit.

L.A's Archbishop José H. Gomez is putting a batch of baked treats from the renowned L.A. bakery Porto's on his hometown Rams. the even have a hashtag #bishopsbiggame.

Cincinnati's Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr is wagering a case of Cincinnati's famed Graeter's Ice Cream on the Bengals.

They're also using the game as an opportunity to raise funds for each archdiocese's Catholic Education Foundation. The winning team's diocese will get 60% of the money raised and the other diocese will get 40%.

Zoos

The L.A. Zoo on left and Cincinnati Zoo on right.

(Courtesy L.A. and Cincinnati zoos)

The zoo of the city that wins the Super Bowl will change its logo on social media for a whole day to incorporate the logo of the winning team.

The L.A. Zoo's permanent emblem features reptiles, the California condor, rhinos, and a gorilla. Officials say they are confident the Rams will win and there won't be any tigers added to the mix!

We think the signature horns of the Rams would be a fitting replacement for the rhino currently featured on the Cincinnati Zoo homepage.

School Superintendents

He's still tweeting as @MiamiSup, but Alberto Carvalho takes over as superintendent of the LA Unified School District on Monday — does this count as his first official act?

Carvalho's counterpart in Cincinnati, interim Superintendent Tianay Amat, came back with a chili challenge:

If you're unfamiliar with Skyline Chili — here's a sample.

Yes, that's spaghetti. Good luck, Superintendent Carvalho!