Within a week, sports fans around the country will be settling on their couches for an annually televised sports event of great repute, that being, The Superbowl. It's a yearly occurrence and essentially the championship match of the football season. It's an event that has been ongoing for the past 50 or so years, and it only seems to get larger every time it airs. My question is, why?
I understand that Football is a cornerstone of American sports entertainment, after all, who doesn't enjoy watching burly men carry a ball like a swaddled baby up and down a field, occasionally being thrust on the ground and possibly getting a concussion.
There's also, as I understand it to be, a thrill of chasing down and acquiring a ticket to be at the event live and, in person, to sit off in the bleachers, be it on the side of the field, or far away in the nosebleed section. This year, ticket prices are expected to range from $3,050 to around $15,000. This is of course, dependent on where you choose to sit, be it midfield, the end-zone, or the upper 400s. I can understand the former price, and shelling out just over $3,000 for a seat at the pinnacle of the football season. But over that? My new Kia Forte cost just under $15,000, as a used car of course. With a car being a necessity in these times, I can understand paying out over 15,000 for a car, used or new. But for a football game that is called "historic" every year? I fail to see the point.
There is also the topic we all enjoy talking about, be it over the lunch table or in the break rooms. Commercials; the means for corporations and companies to flex their monetary might so that they can shove their product in your face, through your television. This year, at Superbowl 50, a 30-second commercial spot is set to be priced at a record of five million American dollars. Exorbitant, don't you think? Now I understand that even sports are a business nowadays and that for most large companies, $5 million is nothing. But even so, it is in this writer's opinion that such money could be put to better use in more practical and pragmatic applications.
On the lighter side of things, there is always the esteemed halftime show, which has brought us amazing things such as the 'left shark' meme that swept the Internet last year. In my opinion, the show that took the proverbial cake was Bruce Springsteen, back in 2009. A fact and favorite that earns me rolls of the eyes to this very day.
In the end, I guess I don't truly understand the point or spirit of the Superbowl. I understand the numbers of course, but not much beyond that. So, while you, dear reader, are munching on hors d'oeuvres or taking a sip of your favored alcoholic beverage in celebration of this 'grand' and 'historic' event, perhaps you will think back to this article, either fondly or with anger. But do perhaps consider some things and formulate your own opinions.
