Super Bowl

Tomorrow, February 7, the Super Bowl will be played in the USA…more specifically it will be played in Miami, Florida. The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League. American Football is not soccer and it is definitely not rugby. It is a unique sport. I am NOT going to explain the basics of American Football today. That will be for a different blog on a different day.

Here is tomorrow's Super Bowl schedule in TV:

12:00 noon (Eastern Time) - Pre-Game Show begins

4:30 PM (Eastern Time) - Interview with President Obama (Live)

4:40 PM (Eastern Time) - Pre-Game Show continues

6:30 PM (Eastern Time) - Actual Game begins

On Super Bowl Sunday, everyone’s attention and interests, including the President of the USA, will be on this game. Streets will be empty. Trains and buses will be empty. Theme parks will be empty. Movie theaters will be empty. The interest and excitement level on Super Bowl Sunday is T20 World Cup Cricket Final plus Soccer World Cup Final multiplied by 50.

Pizza parlors on the other hand will be working overtime to take on the surge in demand for “take out” or “home delivery” orders. Bars with huge television screens will be in “standing room only” mode.

The first Super Bowl was played in 1967. Tomorrow’s game will be the 44th Super Bowl. The teams in this year’s game are the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts. The Super Bowl will have a large television audience and it is often the most watched television program of the year.

The Super Bowl is not just another championship game but a 2 week long event that leads up to the game itself. There are all sorts of betting that occurs for the Super Bowl game. The Las Vegas casinos give odds and accept bets. People who support one team or the other bet with friends. The mayors of the two cities that play in the Super Bowl have a friendly wager with each other. The Governors of the two states where these cities are located also wager with each other. Every year the President is asked which team he thinks will win or which one he wants to win. As always, the President will not take sides.

There is betting that occurs in the work place as well. People who have no idea about American football also participate in betting. It is called “football pool”. Almost everyone gets caught up in some fashion about the game. (Same kind of pool can be made for cricket matches for betting among friends/colleagues. If someone is interested, I will be happy to share with them the know-how.)

On game day, people have super bowl parties. The game would start at 3:30 PM (Pacific Time). Friends and relatives gather at the house and begin the party at 10 AM. Lot of drinks, lot of food, and a lot of shouting. About 10% of these people get drunk before the game even starts and go to bed. Another 25% get drunk before the first half of the game is complete and go to bed.

The half-time break lasts for 20 minutes, and every year some famous musical entertainer gives a live performance for 12 minutes. It is the most watched annual music event as well. It involves millions of dollars, thousands of people, and 15 months of preparation…all for just a 12 minutes show. Some of the previous Super Bowl half-time performers include Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paul McCartney, U2, The Rolling Stones, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen. This year’s performing group will be The Who, a rock band.

Corporations know that this is the most watched event in the USA (and beyond) as 1 billion people watch it annually. Therefore they roll out their newest commercials that are usually clever, catchy, and most times humorous. The cost to get an advertisement played during the Super Bowl is absolutely mind boggling. A 30 second commercial during the game costs $3 million. No, that is not a typo. A 30 second (not 1 minute) commercial costs $3 million. Absolutely outrageous! However, there is a loooong line of companies gladly willing to pay that amount.

The commercials are also part of the attraction as many people watch the Super Bowl just for the entertaining commercials. People love to see the newest advertisements that many times involve famous people and as mentioned before are usually humorous and clever.

The advertisements better be good at $100,000 per second. The day after the Super Bowl people talk about the game and even the commercials and discuss what they liked and disliked.

Enjoy Super Bowl Sunday – no matter where you are. (The next 2 posts will be on Super Bowl Ads.)