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Washington - The most coveted place to watch the Super Bowl football championship this year will not be a swank stadium skybox, but inside the White House, where President Barack Obama will host Sunday's most exclusive game-viewing party.
Tickets to America's most cherished sporting event can run well over a thousand dollars per seat, but none will have more cachet Sunday than the White House, where the all invited guests are members of the US House or Senate.
The event is seen as the latest effort by Obama to bridge a rancorous partisan divide in Washington.
"You'll see Democrats and Republicans. You'll undoubtedly see Steelers fans and Cardinals fans -- once again bringing people together," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at a press briefing Friday.
Fifteen lawmakers have been invited to watch the game pitting the underdog Arizona Cardinals against the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Steelers. About half the invitees hail from one of the two contending states.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden has planned his own Super Bowl fete, also hosting House and Senate members, along with their families, to watch the Super Bowl at his spacious manse at the US Naval Observatory.
Biden's guest list, the White House said Saturday, includes Democratic Senators John Kerry Chuck Schumer and Representative James Clyburn, the top African American in the House.
Less than two weeks into his presidency, Obama already has been underscoring an informal entertaining style not seen in the White House in years, of which his bipartisan gathering of congressional football fans is the latest example.
The new president had a bipartisan group of top congressional lawmakers to the White House for cocktails last Wednesday, in another sign of a more socially relaxed White House.
Better known for his love of basketball, and an ardent fan of Chicago's Bears football team, the president says he is rooting for the Steelers.
"Other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that's closest to my heart," Obama told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday.
Sunday's National Football League (NFL) championship game will be played in Tampa, but watched by as many as a billion people around the world. The event will be broadcast in more than 220 countries and territories in 35 languages.
And while a Super Bowl ring is considered the ultimate career milestone for an NFL player, this year the winning team earns the bonus of being the first sports team champions to meet Obama at the White House.
The historic opportunity to become the first team to make the traditional White House visit during the term of the first African-American US President adds some extra inspiration for the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers.
"It's definitely motivation," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior. "Everyone wants to meet Barack, and it's a very exciting time politically. He is our president, and we would love to get the opportunity to be the first team to go meet him."
Pittsburgh is seeking an unprecedented sixth Super Bowl crown, while the Cardinals are vying for their first.
Last year's Super Bowl found Obama in the thick of the election, but taking a break from the campaign trail on what has become one of America's favorite secular holidays.
He celebrated America's premier sporting event with chili and beer at his Chicago home, but instead of political hotshots, his guests were members of his Secret Service detail.
