Meet the man behind the annual Super Bowl confetti storm
Noah Winter boasts that he’s been to more Super Bowls than Tom Brady.
Brady has competed in 10, more than any other player. But this year, Winter will be part of the Super Bowl spectacle for his 30th consecutive year, not in uniform but in charge of the celebratory confetti after the game.
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Winter’s company, Artistry in Motion, also makes confetti for rock concerts, movies, political conventions and the Olympics. But the annual blizzard of color that falls onto the field at the end of each Super Bowl is probably what he’s best known for.
It is certainly what he is most likely to be asked during dinners. “It became an iconic moment,” Winter marvels, sitting in his Northridge, California, office and confetti factory.
Jane Gershovich, a photographer who worked for the Seattle Seahawks when they won the Super Bowl in 2014, said that when confetti falls, everyone wants to play with it. Players and their families have been known to throw it into the air and create confetti angels.
“Just seeing the players and their kids engage at such a healthy level brings a lot of joy to everyone on the field,” he said.
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So, what goes into planning and executing a giant confetti drop? Winter raises some questions:
What happens to the losing team’s confetti?
Artistry in Motion carries 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of two-color confetti for each of the teams at the Super Bowl. They bring the confetti cannons onto the pitch with about 4 minutes left and line them up around the stadium walls.
Even if the teams take the field before time runs out, the confetti waits until the timer indicates the game is officially over. And the colors of the winners take off.
“It’s always better to be late than early,” Winter explained. “Sometimes players come out and shake hands. We don’t throw until triple zero on the clock. In 30 years, we’ve never thrown the wrong color or thrown too early.”
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The color mix is not 50-50, because some colors dominate in the video, so the company has to experiment to find the correct mix.
The Massachusetts company Seaman Paper has been making the tissue paper that Artistry in Motion turns into confetti for 25 years, said Jamie Jones, one of Seaman’s owners. Many New England Patriots fans who work there are especially excited about their role in this year’s Super Bowl.
The company produces about 150,000 pounds (68,000 kilograms) of tissue paper per day, primarily for gift wrapping and food service.
“It’s a very prestigious order but not a large one,” Jones said of the Super Bowl paper.
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How do you get the best flutter?
Winter has found that the rectangular shape is best for confetti because it spins on its axis and hangs in the air.
But TV viewers may not realize that there are actually two confetti thrown at the Super Bowl: one at the end of the game and the other when the Vince Lombardi Trophy is presented to the winning team. The second round of confetti is cut onto the trophy shape.
Messages can also be printed on small rectangles. For a handful of Super Bowls, Artistry in Motion printed social media messages on each small flag at the request of event sponsor Twitter.
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Some people ask if the confetti is cut by hand (it’s not), and Winter jokes that her hands get tired.
Is confetti biodegradable?
The tiny rectangular tissue paper flags are made from 98 percent U.S.-sourced post-consumer recycled material, Winter says. The paper is biodegradable.
The company produces confetti in the colors of the final four NFL playoff teams. Anything that isn’t used is recycled.
The confetti creates beautiful chaos in the stadium, but cleanup isn’t Winter’s job. Each stadium uses a different approach, partly depending on the composition of the pitch. Some use rakes. Others use leaf blowers, taking care not to degrade the artificial grass.
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How do you get into the confetti business?
Winter studied lighting design in college and did pyrotechnic work at venues including the Hollywood Bowl before Disney asked his team to recreate the falling and swirling leaves for a live show of “Pocahontas” in the mid-1980s. He soon began creating confetti for Disney’s daily parade at Disneyland.
In 1986, Mick Jagger saw confetti at Disney and asked Artistry in Motion to make some for a Rolling Stones concert at Dodgers Stadium. Then, he took the newly formed confetti troupe on tour. Other artists, including U2’s Bono, also asked for confetti to be made for their shows.
Stadium concerts led to sporting events. The company’s first Super Bowl was in 1997, when the Green Bay Packers defeated the (pre-Brady) Patriots at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The year before, Winter was a pyrotechnic at the Super Bowl, making this year’s game his 30th.
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In 2025, approximately 127.7 million people watched the game on TV or streaming.
Winter doesn’t admit to having a favorite team, but said he has two brothers who are New York Jets fans, and he has promised to take them to the Super Bowl to set off a confetti cannon if their team ever returns. Quarterback Joe Namath led the Jets to their last Super Bowl, in 1969.