Last night was the Super Bowl. A spectacular Super Bowl at that. And while we here at Geek Troika don’t necessarily always cover sports with any sort of regularity, sports still falls underneath the category of “entertainment”, which does mean we are somewhat obliged to cover it. I know I am probably the biggest sports geek of the bunch of us, following everything from football, football (or futbol, depending on where you’re from), baseball and basketball. I know Mattie is a big fan of hockey and baseball (as she has stated previously on this very blog!), and I’m not entirely sure where Jon sits on the scale of things.

Anyhow.

The Super Bowl has always struck me as an anomaly in regards to sports from the global scale. Effectively, every other major sport covered in the United States has a sizable to huge following other places in the world. Baseball, the national past time, has taken a feverish grip in the Latin American nations, as well as Japan. Hockey, while not a purely “American” sport, still has its largest venue in the United States, but is prolific in Canada and the Slavic nations. And, basketball has spread on a global scale to where serious discussions have been held for establishing an NBA team in London or China.

Which brings us back to (American) football and the Super Bowl last night. The Super Bowl is a remarkable event because it regularly is among the highest screen share ratings of any other day, making it a magnet for advertisers seeking to display a product. Despite the fact that football is a largely American focused and American digested sport, by the time the Super Bowl rolls around, it is broadcast to nations across the world, and followed with a fever pitch.

I’ve considered many times exactly why this is, and I’ve determined that the Super Bowl is more than just a simple football game. From m own experiences as a child, I hardly knew what football was outside of the Super Bowl. Coming from a family where the concept of sports is incredibly foreign, I spent at least until the age of 10 thinking that the only football game played all year was the Super Bowl. What draws people with such an explicit lack of knowledge to what amounts to a highly regionalized, highly specialized form of entertainment?

Several factors, I would say. First, as I mentioned previously, the advertising. Because advertisers are aware of the eyeballs they hold under their sway, more effort is put into creating a memorable message which drives people to products. Secondly, the event which surrounds the Super Bowl supersedes the game itself. It’s almost like a holiday, bringing people together and all of that warm happy stuff. Sort of like Thanksgiving, but with fewer birds, a lot more alcohol, and some chillier weather thrown in.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering after reading all of this, what the HECK does any of this have to do with geek culture or anything at all? Well, looking back on the Super Bowl party I went to yesterday, half of the game playing Rock Band, going nuts over the movie trailers which played (Did you SEE the Transformers trailer?!), and generally having a good time. You see, the Super Bowl is a great unifier. It’s not just for sports fiends, it’s for geeks, kids, mothers and fathers and everyone.

Hope you all had a great Super Bowl Sunday!

Articles, Feature Article advertising, Canada, football, futbol, globalization, party, sports, super bowl, Transformers, US Sports