Every February, Americans come together to watch the single most anticipated sporting event of the year. It’s the day an athlete goes from being a player known only to Fantasy football league fanatics to someone on the world stage. It’s the only time a company is willing to spend an average of 3.8 million dollars on a 30-second commercial spot as opposed to every other commercial on every other program. The success of the Super Bowl ads are not rated by how many items are sold off the supermarket shelves, but rather on whether it made it to the Entertainment Tonight highlight reel. Whether you like football or not, the NFL Super Bowl has become more than a game. It has become a viewing and socializing phenomenon.
Everything from Beyoncé`s halftime diva performance, to the unexpected 3rd quarter blackout, and the climactic win for the Baltimore Ravens, it’s no wonder why the Super Bowl is the most talked-about game weeks before and after the event. Unfortunately, with all of the overdramatized components surrounding the Super Bowl, the Ravens may have been neglected after their win.
The media has taken a day that’s supposed to be about the teams that have survived grueling schedules, brutal tackles, and career-ending injuries to have the honor of playing in the Super Bowl, and has turned it into a controversial celebrity event, ranging from artists poorly singing the National Anthem to debates about which unknown actors will be the face of Super Bowl ads. The question is, has the transformation that has taken place over the last few decades a ‘bad thing’?
First, let’s analyze what qualifies as a ‘bad thing’. Someone or something has to be damaged in one way or another. Another criterion, in this case, is that some individual or group was coerced into doing something against their will or to perform and act detrimental to the health and/or well being of another. From as objective a viewpoint as possible, one would have to say that not only are the participants on every level not being harmed, but on the contrary, they are gaining enormously. From the confetti makers to even the players on the losing team, everyone comes out a winner in one sense or another. Yes, even the losing players. For a moment, how many people go through their entire lives in complete obscurity? Many Hall of Fame players, some of the true greats of the game, have never had the privilege of playing in the Super Bowl. Everything from the fans preparing for a game that they’re not even playing in, to soldier overseas watching the game, is what adds to the games their uniqueness.
A sport survives by the people watching the game. If the controversy creates a larger viewership, then the sport will thrive. You can be sure that another halftime wardrobe malfunction is good for another extra couple million viewers the following year. Unfortunately, this year’s blackout decreased the viewership by 3 percent. It seems that America has all of the time in the world for controversy, but little patience for technical difficulties. I guess the moral is that as long as the Super Bowl doesn’t have to depend on the football game, the NFL has nothing to worry about.