Corporate America ready for invasion

By By Josh Taylor/sports writer
January 11, 2004
This column was written prior to Saturday's NFL action.
The college football season is over. The split crown has been awarded and all the analysts have had their say. A new year has come and only eight NFL teams remain. The mother of all sporting events is fast approaching. The biggest show on earth is gearing up to once again put on the biggest spectacle that you have ever seen. Oh yeah, there's also a football game involved.
Super Bowl XXXVIII is exactly three weeks from today. This mammoth sporting event has truly become the biggest ticket in the world. The top 10 most watched television shows of all time are all Super Bowls. This yearly event has turned into the nexus of our sports culture.
The game is watched by a U.S. audience of 130 million viewers and a possible worldwide audience of 1 billion viewers in 180 different countries. Electronics stores actually sell more big screen televisions in January than they do in December (Christmas).
The largest television audience in history was the Cowboy's 1996 Super Bowl win over Pittsburgh with 139 million viewers. Last year's Super Bowl came close pulling in 138 million.
There is a down side to the game. The Super Bowl has become corporate America's favorite spot for advertising, product placement, and sponsorship. Anything and everything that can carry a logo will carry a logo.
This year's Super Bowl will take place at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. This state-of-the-art stadium was built for the newly formed Houston Texans, but the city and the ownership most definitely had the Big Show' in mind as well. Economic impact studies have shown upwards of $350 million dollars in a Super Bowl host city.
Reliant Stadium (named for an energy company) is the only retractable roof stadium in the league. The entire roof can open or close within 10 minutes. The stadium boasts a total seating capacity around 70,000 spectators, with 147 private suites, two mega suites, four super suites,and two owner suites. This place is a monster.
Kickoff for the game is set for 5:30 p.m. Don't worry. If you can't wait that long I am sure that most sports channels will be talking about the game all day long.
Sadly, the Dixie Chicks will not repeat last year's national anthem performance. They have been reported tarred and feathered by right-wing fanatics in west Texas. Superstar Beyonce` Knowles will be performing this year's national anthem. This is an improvement over the Backstreet Boys a few years ago. I guess Brittany Spears wasn't available. That divorce must be really hard on her.
America Online will be sponsoring the halftime show. It will be produced by MTV. This could possibly last longer than the first half. It's always a good time to make a beverage run to the store.
So far, the actual performers for the halftime show are being kept a secret, but rumor has it that Janet Jackson will be the headliner. I can guarantee you that her brother, Michael, will not be attending the show.
You can also expect to see the Sprint first-down marker or the Dodge instant replay. Remember, it's not about the game. It's about selling stuff.
A large majority of the viewing audience will tune in simply to see the commercials. Companies spend millions on advertising time in the Super Bowl. Hint: if you hear someone say they watch just for the commercials, don't even try to talk to them about the actual teams playing in the game. These are not real football fans.
The NFL will also be launching its new NFL Network cable channel at this year's Super Bowl. My best estimates put the number of promos for this alone at 1,267.
The Lombardi Trophy costs about $12,000 dollars to make, or two tickets to the game. The winning team also gets 150 diamond rings valued at $5,000 per ring. The losing team gets rings also, but they cannot exceed $2,500 per ring.
The winning players also get paid around $50,000 for the game, while the losers make about $30,000. Keep in mind that this is for about four hours of work.
The actual breakdown of ticket revenue may surprise you a bit. The winning team receives 17.5 percent of the ticket revenue. The losing team also grabs 17.5 percent. As long as you show up, your team gets the cash. The host team gets about 5 percent of the ticket revenue while the NFL takes about 25.2 percent. The other 34.8 percent of ticket revenue is split up among the remaining 29 teams in the league. Even the Saints make money off the Super Bowl.
With all the hype, advertising, and overblown suspense associated with the game it is important to remember that it is about a football game between two teams. Guys like me watch it to see the actual game. For the vast majority of spectators, this is probably the only NFL game they watch all season. God bless America!