New Orleans, Louisiana - The Kansas City Chiefs aim for a historic hat-trick of Super Bowl titles on Sunday when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in front of a star-studded crowd in New Orleans headed by President Donald Trump.

Trump, a strident critic of the National Football League over the years, will become the first sitting president ever to attend the Super Bowl when he takes his seat among a sell-out crowd of around 74,000 fans at the Caesars Superdome for the biggest annual event in the American sporting calendar.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift will also be in the VIP seats to watch as her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Chiefs teammates bid to become the first team in history to lift three consecutive Vince Lombardi Trophies.

Trump's presence at the NFL showpiece will heighten security around an event that was already protected by a heavy police presence following the New Year's Day attack which left 14 people dead and many more injured in the Big Easy's famous Bourbon Street district.

NFL Super Bowl LIX: Eagles crush Chiefs to win as Trump makes presidential debut

"I'm confident the safest place this weekend will be under the security umbrella we have in place around [the Superdome,]" Cathy Lanier, the NFL's chief security officer, said this week. "We have reviewed, and re-reviewed, all the events of January 1."

Trump's groundbreaking attendance at the game comes against a backdrop of a strained relationship with the NFL stretching back several decades, when he sought to join the league as an owner in the early 1980s only to be rebuffed.

Trump also triggered uproar during his first term as president when in 2017 he criticized NFL players who knelt during the playing of the US national anthem to draw attention to issues of racial injustice.

Players in Sunday's game have so far walked a diplomatic line when asked about Trump's presence, with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes saying playing in front of the US leader would be "cool."

As always, the Super Bowl crosses over into popular culture and the half-time show this year will feature hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, who swept up impressive accolades at last Sunday's Grammys, winning in all five categories for which he received nominations.

Bookmakers and casinos meanwhile are taking odds on whether Chiefs star Travis will propose to Taylor after what might be his final game in the NFL – reports late Saturday said the 35-year-old is considering retirement after the Super Bowl.