This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, and I guess we are in the midst of Super Bowl Week, all leading up to the Big Game, Super Bowl LIII, held in Atlanta, Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
On Sunday, we had the Pro Bowl, which is a prelude to Super Bowl Sunday.
Monday was Super Bowl Monday.
Tuesday was Super Bowl Tuesday.
Wednesday, today, is Super Bowl Wednesday.
Thursday will be Super Bowl Thursday.
Friday will be Super Bowl Friday.
Saturday will be Super Bowl Eve ...
And then the Big Game will take place in the early evening of Sunday, but the coverage of the game will begin at 9 a.m. and pretty much last through the game and past the game throughout Sunday evening.
Overkill? You bet it is, but the Super Bowl has been made into a national, and in some places, an international holiday of our own creation, and there is no holiday that is hyped more than Super Bowl Sunday, and yes, it has gotten to the point that it is Christmas, the Fourth of July and any other holiday you want to name all wrapped together into one.
The marketing and promotions surrounding this game have become legendary. Manufacturers hype new products. TV networks use it as a springboard for new programs.
And alternative programmers, not knowing what to do to entice the audience that could care less about this event, broadcast programming that they think can entice people to turn over to them and watch, even if it simply takes place during the overly hyped halftime show.
This year, outlets like the WWE Network are actually going to broadcast a wrestling show--albeit for the length of the halftime show--where a six-man tag team match will be held, all to entice viewers to skip Maroon Five and the other acts performing and settle in on what they are offering--if only for 15 or 20 minutes or so.
I remember in past years, other outlets have put on some really weird stuff, like the Kitten Bowl and the Lingerie Bowl, just to entice potential viewers who have little or no interest in the Big Game to at least come on over for a few minutes.
The network carrying the game also has an opportunity to hype new series, and given the holdover audience that they have after the game, a show like "The Wonder Years" got a tremendous boost from premiering right after the Super Bowl ended. It doesn't always work--remember "The Last Precinct" starring Adam West?--but when it does, like it did with "The Wonder Years," it works like a charm.
Are you going to be watching the Big Game--that is the name that is used by advertisers who do not want to pay a fee to use the actual "Super Bowl" name, which is owned by the NFL--and if not, what are you going to be doing?
People who could care less who wins often get into the Super Bowl swing by attending parties, and some even betting on various aspects of the Big Game, everything from who will win the coin toss to who will score the first points to, of course, who will win the game.
With online betting getting more prominence in our country, you just know that the betting will go haywire this Sunday, and probably billions and billions of dollars will be spent putting money on some aspect of the game.
My family and I will not be watching or participating in any way or doing anything much related to the Super Bowl. I lost interest in football years ago, don't watch it at all, and I am sure my wife, my son and I will find something else to do on Super Bowl Sunday.
What that will be is another matter, but with Netflix and YouTube literally at our fingertips, it probably won't be that difficult to find something to watch and get involved with.
But to those who will dive head first into this--and even those who will participate even though they don't know a quarterback from a quarter back--good luck to you.
On this day of utter hype, you are certainly going to need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.