Every winter of every year in the United States, millions of Americans will gather around their televisions and watch Super Bowl Sunday. Football is the most popular sport in American with its league called the National Football League or the NFL. The NFL would fight against one another throughout the fall to have the honor of being one of the two teams that will compete in the Super Bowl, the championship bout in the NFL.
Super Bowl Sunday is like a holiday of some sort, although it’s unofficial. However, because of the hype and excitement surrounding it, you would think it’s a national holiday. In fact, it’s the most awaited event just after Christmas. Due to its popularity, Super Bowl Sunday is mostly the most-watched program on television throughout the year.
Due to its popularity, many brands are looking to have a little bit of airtime during one of the Super Bowl breaks. The airtime for such an event would be highly-priced, and a lot of brands fight for it. You can view it as the championship for brands to advertise. With all that in mind, why is the Super Bowl a prevalent cultural phenomenon, and how did it become so popular?
Let’s have some history.
How Did the Super Bowl become Popular
The first Super Bowl was a match between the Packers and Chiefs, which ended in 35-10. It was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and surprisingly, out of the stadium’s 100,000 seating capacity, a significant portion of it is empty with over 30,000 seats. The previous Tuesday even had 40,000 seats empty. Not only that, but the front office of the Kansas City Chiefs were ransacked by two burglars who left the team’s stash of Super Bowl tickets.
Even the television networks who broadcasted it don’t have any footage of the first Super Bowl because it’s a non-event. However, the Super Bowl is one of the most awaited sporting events of the world and one of the significant events in the American sporting calendar.
A petition was even made to make the Monday following the event be made into a holiday, suggesting that the day would be a day of camaraderie and cheers between fellow Americans. Although it was rejected, many people are referring to the following Monday after Super Bowl Sunday, a holiday.
Still, though, it took some time for the Super Bowl to be this popular today. In actuality, the NFL was deemed superior to AFL by the fans. Vince Lombardi even said a few words about the AFL, in which he said that failing against them would be an utter disgrace to the league. Super Bowl III proved to be an event that could hook in a vast viewership. And so, from the Super Bowl’s $55000 30 second advertising slot, it became $78200 in Super Bowl IV.
And it only went up from there, leading us to the Super Bowl we know and love today. But why should you watch the Super Bowl or, more specifically, what are the things you should look out for in the event?
Here are some of them.
The Commercials
It’s rare for ads to be more important than taking out a cold beer from the fridge during one of the breaks in a sporting event. The Super Bowl is another thing because of the price of 30-second airtime during a break from the Super Bowl, brands think up some of the most ridiculous or brilliant ads to entertain people.
This is only natural, though, since many brands are fighting over it, so they do their best to entertain people while advertising their products.
Famous Faces
If you’re into former football superstars and celebrities, then the Super Bowl event is your chance to get an inch close to them.
Like ordinary people, celebrities can also be fans of the Super Bowl, and thus a lot of famous personalities can be seen walking around the stadium area. During the Super Bowl, the barrier between fans and these famous personalities is somehow weakened, to the fans’ benefit, of course.
The Bets
The Super Bowl is not only a big event for the fans but the bettors as well. While the classic betting a spread bets and money lines are in full effect, the prop bets are what you should hear about.
The Super Bowl is home to the ridiculous bets you’ll ever hear, like how many seconds the national anthem will last and which flavor of Gatorade will be poured on top of the winning team’s head coach.
Takeaway
Like any other famous sporting event globally, the Super Bowl did not come strong in its first appearance. Thanks to the fans’ love and support, it took its time to be as popular as it is today. It’s so famous nowadays that there are still people pushing the following Monday to be a national holiday. Even though the proposition is still rejected, most people refer to it as an unofficial national holiday.
