Culture Focus: The Super Bowl

American football is a unique sport that is enjoyed by many, especially men and boys. It is a fall sport, and the culmination of the professional season is a game called the Super Bowl. Post-seasonal college football games have a history of being called “bowl” games, stemming from the famous Rose Bowl game in Pasedena, California on New Year’s Day. Thus, when the Super Bowl was created as a result of the merger between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, it was decided to use to call this world championship of football a “super bowl” game. The name stuck, and Americans have been enthusiastically watching this “world series” of football every January/February since 1967.

An average of 80 – 90 million Americans watch the game every year, making it one of the most-watched television programs of the year in the U.S. Not surprisingly, advertisers pay enormous amounts of money to have their commercials shown during the program – in 2007, a 30-second commercial cost $2.6 million dollars to be shown during the Super Bowl game.

Another feature of the Super Bowl game is its 30-minute halftime show, the entertainment provided when both teams take a break halfway through the game. Most singers, bands, and other performers can only dream of having a part of this widely-viewed event, as the entertainment is generally done by well-known names such as Prince, Janet Jackson, and U2.

Many offices have informal betting pools based on the Super Bowl. The participants of the pool carefully study the odds for the teams playing off in the championship, and place bets according to various factors, such as a team’s past history, who’s on the injured list, or where the Super Bowl will be held. Pools are a form of gambling, and are therefore illegal in most places. However, that doesn’t seem to stop those who want to pay and play in the pool!