The thing about the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the largest sporting event in the United States in terms of advertising revenue, viewership, and betting revenue for sportsbooks. The Super Bowl attracts almost 100 million television viewers in the US alone and approximately 50 million other viewers from the rest of the world. The US figure is quite staggering, considering that the total population of the US is just over 300 million. Of course, what constitutes ‘observing’ is a moot point. Large sections of the population focus on counting beer and pizza rather than scoring in the game itself, yet the fact that a hundred million people “tune in” is pretty amazing.
The Super Bowl is a great event, matched by the determination of the players who take the field that day and the passion of the fans who create the atmosphere. This year, the big game will take place at Cowboys Stadium, the largest “dome stadium” in the world, and it promises to be spectacular in Arlington, Texas. The stadium seats about 80,000 people and if you’re worried about watching the action, don’t, there’s a giant screen HDTV sixty yards, going from “twenty to twenty” (yard lines) on the that you can follow the action.
Many people see the Super Bowl as a symbol of US leniency, maybe it’s the hype, maybe it’s the cost, or maybe it’s the ‘in your face’ nature of the event. Even the fact that each Super Bowl has the year set in Roman numerals, for example Super Bowl XLV, has drawn criticism. Come on, give the Bowl a break! Just consider the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games as a comparative excess, or the cost of hosting the World Cup or indeed any major national competition anywhere in the world and you would have to accept that a large part of the costs of organizing such an event are unavoidable. The Super Bowl is one of those unforgettable experiences and it ranks next to one of the best spectator experiences you can have; without the excess, such events simply wouldn’t be the same.
The competition is literate with heartbreak and triumph, for coaches, players, owners and fans. But the story of the Buffalo Bills is perhaps the saddest of all, and reads a bit like a Shakespearean tragedy. The Bills made it to four straight Super Bowls but never won it. They were one of the great teams and certainly the best team to never win the Super Bowl.
On the sports betting front, the Super Bowl is a game that I generally try to enjoy by keeping my bets very small. I want to watch and relax, not worry about the outcome. As an experienced bettor and trader, I tend to make a small “interest” bet, relax and enjoy the game. I’m usually on the ‘end’ as Super Bowl scores/totals can be high, but only if I feel the line is too low early in the run-up to the big game.
Catch it when the show comes to town in 2011.
