Super Bowl halftime show 2014: Performance features Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers, start time estimated at 8 p.m. ET

The Super Bowl isn't so much a National Football League (NFL) championship game as a cultural event in America. At this point it's just short of a national holiday. And while there is no parade broadcast on every network throughout the day, there might as well be.

Instead, we're treated to pre-game festivities and a blowout halftime concert from a hot musical act. The NFL used to push the envelope in that arena until Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" back in 2004 (see it here) forced the league to start using safer, more geriatric acts who wouldn't embarrass on a national scale.

At least not with public displays of (near) nudity.

We're now a full decade removed from nipple-gate, however, and the NFL is back to using a more diversified set of entertainers. This year's offering, set for halftime of Super Bowl 48: Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks on Sun., Feb. 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will feature pop star Bruno Mars as the main attraction with veteran rock gods Red Hot Chili Peppers opening for him.

CBS News got some quotes from Mars at his press conference for the big game:

"The NFL, when we got the phone call [to perform at halftime], they said they love to raise the stakes," Mars told reporters. "The first band I thought of was the Red Hot Chili Peppers."

He says he feels honored the NFL is letting him perform at the Super Bowl halftime show even though he's still a budding artist.

The "NFL is such a prestigious stage...that they give the new guy a shot, and I'm so grateful for that," Mars said. "No, I haven't been able to take it in. Not yet. Come Sunday, I will."

For all you degenerate gamblers out there, you can find plenty of silly prop bets to throw down some coin on, including what song Mars will lead off with ("Locked Out of Heaven" is currently favored 1/2). Find more details on all that here and here.

Now all involved just need to hope the weather holds up!

Broncos vs. Seahawks is scheduled to kick off at roughly 6:30 p.m. ET, so expect the halftime show to begin somewhere around 8 p.m. ET.

See you then!

Be sure to also hit up our complete, up-to-date Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl 48 stream coverage right here.