Football has its origins in America. Our society has developed around it — encompassing scholarships and name, image, and likeness agreements to the American dream, culminating on the second Sunday of February. This tradition renders football the most favored and lucrative sport in America. As it does annually, the NFL shows the world that it can evoke the spirit of the country: opulent suites and Gatorade surprises, Andy Reid unleashed, Tom Brady grinning unsettlingly on screen.
Display. The lights were definitely bright enough for Kendrick Lamar.
Regardless of how poorly the Kansas City Chiefs performed, no loss can match the one endured by Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham. Kendrick ensured that. Indeed, magic unfolded in the end, reaching a peak with Kendrick’s “tv off,” as the stadium plunged into darkness. The television offered a platform for Kendrick’s celebratory moment, reminiscent of dumping excess soil into a grave that’s already full, then instructing the audience to shut it all down. Should we heed Kendrick’s words, we need to, for just one fleeting moment, see our own reflections through dim televisions — the impact of strobe lights and commercial noise etched in our sight for an instant before they dissolve into complete darkness.
When the TV switched off and the game concluded, who did you become as a viewer? Were you focused? How many operations did Tom Brady undergo to achieve that appearance? I understand you were curious. Do you genuinely care about hip-hop rivalries? Are you going to play tackle football? Why do you pay your local cable monopoly to view commercials? I don’t recall any advertisements. I believe Pete Davidson was in one.
The show is magnificent, indeed, but tiring. Only the NFL can rationalize their reliance on commercials by incorporating them into the product itself. Why are we allowing advertising to intrude into areas that should stand against it, such as sports? The Olympics comprehends this more effectively — its absence of advertisements profoundly alters our interaction with sports for a short span of two weeks every two years.
As Kendrick suggested, the activity of viewing television is an effective means to connect with culture, but when it goes beyond its own topics, it turns profoundly harmful. All American professional sports leagues are financially connected to gambling and TV deals — sports are being distorted and downplayed at every level to accommodate these interests. These aging television executives in the NCAA are ‘superleagueifiyng’ the FBS conferences to rival the NFL. College football does not require increased popularity, nor does it need to grow. The market influences that control its broadcasting rights suggest a different story. In the larger context, these sports broadcasting agreements are a burden on the sport itself, and their impact can gradually stifle the entrenched cultural passion that initially drove its fame. Go converse with the schools and supporters that remained in the Pac-12. Why do sports leagues and television networks feel compelled to undermine our sports’ legacies for immediate ratings and financial gain?
The Super Bowl represents the pinnacle of the golden era of cable TV, but it preserves its status through extravagant displays — frequently, the evening is recalled for factors not connected to the game itself. Each year we continue to watch, despite the fact that many viewers are apathetic towards the actual game of football. Why should the cultural activity serve as a means to an end instead of being an end in itself? Isn’t sports and music sufficient? I am not equipped to handle the barrage of advertisements, and I feel like my mind is about to snap. I am just a weak customer. Is it unreasonable to ask them to offer us a quality product without attempting to exploit us? Why is it so hard for them to see that the ads are a type of physical punishment? Perhaps they comprehend but are indifferent to our fatigue. Our bodies aren’t designed for the physical demands of the Super Bowl — consuming food, media, advertisements, and emotional release. We spend an entire year recuperating for the next one.
The NBA should perceive the Super Bowl’s ongoing triumph as a manifestation of 20th-century singular culture, highlighted by Kendrick and advertisements eclipsing the actual game. I wish to see the NBA challenge the NFL and Super Bowl not by attempting to surpass them in their ratings, but by opting out of that competition altogether. Basketball is a 21st-century game, capable of worldwide growth thanks to the nature of the sport. Television should not be the main source of income. Consider the worldwide perspective: hundreds of millions engage with and support it — indicating that the sport is fundamentally comparable to soccer regarding popularity and competes with it in terms of celebrity status. I spent the summer in Perú and discovered basketball courts located high up in the mountains. A lot of individuals were aware of basketball, and I participated in several matches. I noticed pictures of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in several stores, and they were consistently shown next to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. This represented a glimpse of what can be achieved for a sport that understands its worth — one not limited by the constraints of a television airing.
This Super Bowl confirmed that sports leagues need to embrace the 21st century and change the traditional view of television as the main source of revenue. By increasing accessibility to a television product, ratings become irrelevant; instead, you can invest more resources in developing the sport itself. The ads can follow afterward.
It’s time to switch off the television.