This year's Super Bowl was kind of a let-down for me. I was hoping for a highly competitive barn-burner of a game that went into overtime. That certainly wasn't the case, eh? Maybe it's because I'm no longer a fan of a particular team.
About six years ago, I came to the conclusion how utterly stupid and moronic it was for me (emphasis on ME) to be a 'fan' of any particular team in the National Football League. Years prior, I had rooted for the team now known as The Washington Football Team. While I didn't shell out money on game-day tickets or a bunch of team swag, I did have an official NFL jersey and I engaged in my fair share of smack-talking with fans of opposing teams. I also played armchair coach and quarterback with my fellow fans as we talked about the team as if we were actually players or coaching staff. "What we need to do is draft ourselves a quarterback next year and not spend so much money on defense!" Or after a hard loss; "We failed to moved the ball. You can't win football games when you can't move the ball!" I look back on all that now and chuckle. How silly all of that was. The Washington Football Team didn't know that I, as a person, even existed. I had zero say in what they did as a team. The only thing that the Washington Football Team was concerned about, generally, as far as I was concerned is how much money I was spending on game tickets and licensed merchandise. That's about it. And that goes for every single team in the NFL. They're always quick to thank their fans, but they don't really know any of them personally. They just want the money. It's a huge billion-dollar business that is dependent on obsessed fans shelling out hundreds and thousands of dollars on merchandise and tickets. It's the perfect scam if you ask me.
This year's Super Bowl only allowed about 25,000 fans. That's a little over 1/3 of the total capacity of Tampa’s Raymond James stadium. Of those 25,000 in attendance, 7,500 were vaccinated health care workers that got free tickets; kudos to the NFL for doing that. So that means 17,500 paying fans in attendance. Ticket prices started at $5,950 and extending into the $20,000 range. Still, 1/3 capacity; that's a lot of lost revenue for the NFL, so they came up with an ingenious way to bilk a couple thousand (30,000 to be exact) more fans into shelling out money, even though they couldn't attend the game in person. That's right folks, for a mere $100, you could get your face plastered on one of the cardboard cutout 'fans' distributed throughout the stadium on game day. How completely genius was that?! An additional $3 Million in revenue thanks to 30,000 fans willing to shell out $100 to have their picture put on a piece of cardboard sitting somewhere among the 40,890 seats not occupied by actual human beings. Wow. Why didn't they just advertise that $100 as what it really was; an idiot tax. I'm sorry. The amount of money that some fans shell out every year on these professional sports teams is just mind-boggling to me. Why? Bragging rights? Don't tell me the majority of fans don't have better, more useful and necessary things to spend their hard-earned dollars on. Meanwhile, Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner) is pulling in $40 Million a year, QB Tom Brady's making about $15 Million this year, the Kansas City Chiefs spent $165,303,554 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent $132,324,425 this year for players and coaching salaries. Now, can you imagine being paid $15 Million dollars for playing a game?! Can you imagine being part of a local intramural sports team that had a budget of $150 Million each year?! Let all those numbers really sink in. While you're running those numbers, let's move on to the commercials. The commercials airing during the game this year cost $5.5 million for a 30-second spot. How many additional millions of dollars did they bring in? The amount of money being spent to play a freakin' game is just mind-boggling to me! And, I'm sorry to all the fans out there, a total waste of your hard-earned money.
If you want to be fan, be a fan of something that you actually have a tangible, tenable connection to or with. Maybe a local high school football team where your kids attend, a team from your college alma mater, a local recreation league that your family or friends participate in. But not some NFL team whose players are nothing more than overpaid sports mercenaries who play for the team with the highest bid. Every year we see the free agency carousel start to spin and the bidding and trades are fast and furious. Some seasons, fans find themselves looking at an entirely new team full of players that has no resemblance to last year's team. What are you actually rooting for? A team, or a logo and color scheme? Seriously. Think about that. It's unbelievably stupid when you really think about it, so most fans don't. They just talk smack and talk about the team as if they were an integral part of it. I guess if that's your idea of 'fun' and 'fulfillment,' knock yourself out. Me? I still enjoy watching a good game. And it's so much less stressful and more enjoyable not being a fan of any particular team. I'm a fan of players and of the remarkable stories behind some players. I do still love when the Cowboys and the Ravens lose. Why? Well, I've got nothing against the teams, just the way the fans represent these teams. It's funny to me to see folks all butt-hurt and deflated when "their team" (ha ha) loses. I've seen people cry over these losses. Really?! You've got nothing more significant in your life to cheer and cry about than a stupid football game?! Again, it boggles the mind. But, in my defense, I've taken a much milder tone with these fans now that I'm not one of them. Who am I to judge, really? Whatever makes you happy, I say. As long as you're not negatively impacting my life, you should do what makes you happy. If spending hundreds of bucks on jerseys and hats and banners and painting your hair and face crazy colors on game day make you happy, go for it! It's definitely entertaining for me! As for this year's Super Bowl, it wasn't nearly as exciting as I had hoped. I wasn't rooting for any particular team, but I wanted it to be a competitively close game. And it wasn't. Sigh. Still, I can't help but marvel at Tom Brady's achievements in the sport. He'll definitely go down in history as one of the greats... and retire a billionaire... for playing a game. Wow.
Comments
Post a Comment