Stones exceed Bowl gig age limit

The Stones will provide half-time entertainment at the Super Bowl

The Rolling Stones would be too old to watch their own Super Bowl performance, organisers have ruled.

Two thousand people will be invited onto the pitch to watch the band's half-time performance on 5 February.

But only people aged between 18 and 45 are eligible, US National Football League spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

"You have to attend rehearsal and be able to stand for long stretches of time," he told Detroit Free Press. The youngest Rolling Stones member is 58.

'Run onto field'

The NFL said it would be a "once-in-a-lifetime chance" to experience the prestigious US event "from a totally unique perspective".

Age restrictions were applied because the task was physically demanding, Mr McCarthy added.

Volunteers will be expected to dance, sing and cheer, remain on their feet for long periods and wait in a tunnel for most of the first half. They must attend up to five rehearsals lasting up to seven hours each.

Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at the Super Bowl in 2004

"And you have to run onto Ford Field with 2,000 other folks," said Mr McCarthy.

The four members of the Rolling Stones have a combined age of 246, with guitarist Ronnie Wood the youngest at 58.

Their performance at the Detroit, Michigan, event will be part of the group's ongoing world tour.

Last year the Rolling Stones broke their own 11-year-old record by selling tickets worth $162m (£94m), playing 42 performances before 1.2 million people.

Past Super Bowl performers include Sir Paul McCartney and Janet Jackson, who sparked protests in 2004 by exposing her right breast during a raunchy dance routine.