I'll be completely honest. I don't enjoy sports. Whenever my friends start talking about the last football game, all I can do is sit and wonder what they're talking about.
I know. It's a mark of shame against my manliness, but frankly, I just don't care enough about it.
Therefore, when Professor Lowe told us our assignment this week, to write about how our beats covered the Super Bowl, my head dropped. I knew right away that while writing this, I would be drowning in an entirely foreign element.
But hey, the Super Bowl is not just about sports. It has a transcendental quality to it, one that defines American capitalism and the freedom to consume. Super Bowl Sunday is a celebration for those who enjoy football. Let's take a look at the economic impact of the Super Bowl.
According to Fox Sports, last year's Super Bowl drove an extra $150 million into Indiana by traveling fans, sponsors and media coverage. With more than 111 million television viewers, Super Bowl XLVI collected the highest amount of television viewers throughout history. It was a good day for the NBC network, and it will most likely be a good day for CBS tomorrow.
Also according to Fox Sports, more than 100 million pounds of chicken and 11 million pounds of potato chips are purchased for Super Bowl parties. Add on another 8 million pounds of avocadoes for guacamole, 4 million pounds of popcorn, 4 million pounds of pretzels, 3 million pounds of peanuts and 52 million cases of beer, and you've got some pretty sizeable snackage.
All in all, Super Bowl Sunday tallies the second-largest amount of food consumption in America, just barely behind Thanksgiving. This consumption is so large, in fact, that antacid sales are expected to rise 20 percent the next day.
I've heard plenty of criticism regarding this crazy consumption, but I don't buy it (no pun intended). I see natural economic stimulus.
The Super Bowl is the epitome of entertainment-based capitalism. Even people who do not watch the game are bound to be affected by its economic ripple in some way, and therefore, I do see it as extremely valuable news.
Especially in this economy, this is the angle of the Super Bowl that is missing from NBC News. In comparison to Fox, which has plenty of economic analysis regarding the Super Bowl, NBC has nothing. Its Business link has a story listing its favorite beers for the game as well as its top ten "man caves," but that's about as far as it goes.
Sure, NBC had its feature on the Harbaugh brothers. It had links to profiles on specific players on both teams. And of course it had its set of expert predictions. During the game, NBC provided half time coverage and a piece about the power outage. For those who did not have access to a television screen, the website provided live coverage with no video feed.
No doubt, NBC's live coverage of the event was pretty well-developed.
Still, it's not the coverage I care about. I don't care about the halftime show and I certainly do not care that Snoop Lion made an appearance at the Super Bowl Playboy party the night before.
NBC News puts far too much emphasis on the entertainment news of the event and not at all on the economics to keep me on their site. I understand others – probably most – don't care about the business-side of the Super Bowl. NBC News would be suitable for those people. But it's far too fluffy for me.
I know. It's a mark of shame against my manliness, but frankly, I just don't care enough about it.
Therefore, when Professor Lowe told us our assignment this week, to write about how our beats covered the Super Bowl, my head dropped. I knew right away that while writing this, I would be drowning in an entirely foreign element.
But hey, the Super Bowl is not just about sports. It has a transcendental quality to it, one that defines American capitalism and the freedom to consume. Super Bowl Sunday is a celebration for those who enjoy football. Let's take a look at the economic impact of the Super Bowl.
According to Fox Sports, last year's Super Bowl drove an extra $150 million into Indiana by traveling fans, sponsors and media coverage. With more than 111 million television viewers, Super Bowl XLVI collected the highest amount of television viewers throughout history. It was a good day for the NBC network, and it will most likely be a good day for CBS tomorrow.
Also according to Fox Sports, more than 100 million pounds of chicken and 11 million pounds of potato chips are purchased for Super Bowl parties. Add on another 8 million pounds of avocadoes for guacamole, 4 million pounds of popcorn, 4 million pounds of pretzels, 3 million pounds of peanuts and 52 million cases of beer, and you've got some pretty sizeable snackage.
All in all, Super Bowl Sunday tallies the second-largest amount of food consumption in America, just barely behind Thanksgiving. This consumption is so large, in fact, that antacid sales are expected to rise 20 percent the next day.
I've heard plenty of criticism regarding this crazy consumption, but I don't buy it (no pun intended). I see natural economic stimulus.
The Super Bowl is the epitome of entertainment-based capitalism. Even people who do not watch the game are bound to be affected by its economic ripple in some way, and therefore, I do see it as extremely valuable news.
Especially in this economy, this is the angle of the Super Bowl that is missing from NBC News. In comparison to Fox, which has plenty of economic analysis regarding the Super Bowl, NBC has nothing. Its Business link has a story listing its favorite beers for the game as well as its top ten "man caves," but that's about as far as it goes.
Sure, NBC had its feature on the Harbaugh brothers. It had links to profiles on specific players on both teams. And of course it had its set of expert predictions. During the game, NBC provided half time coverage and a piece about the power outage. For those who did not have access to a television screen, the website provided live coverage with no video feed.
No doubt, NBC's live coverage of the event was pretty well-developed.
Still, it's not the coverage I care about. I don't care about the halftime show and I certainly do not care that Snoop Lion made an appearance at the Super Bowl Playboy party the night before.
NBC News puts far too much emphasis on the entertainment news of the event and not at all on the economics to keep me on their site. I understand others – probably most – don't care about the business-side of the Super Bowl. NBC News would be suitable for those people. But it's far too fluffy for me.