Do We Really Like the Sport?

Posted by Jon Creem.

As the rematch of Superbowl XLII came and went I noticed the abundance of articles projecting and confirming the trend of the rapid increase in sales of high-definition televisions and the new 3D television technology in preparation for the big game. No doubt the Superbowl is the largest one day event of the five major sports (Yes, I said five to include soccer. You can't be considered the worlds most popular sport, and have a fully functioning American league who seems to add teams and build new stadiums every year without being mentioned as a major sport), with company's paying about $3.5 million for each 30 sec advertisement, with tickets costing more than $1,000, and with performances and half time shows that cost multi-millions of dollars. 

But every year at this time I remember an article I read by The Wall Street Journal from 2010. The article was titled 11 Minutes of Action, and it showed that, according to a study, in a game of football the ball is actually in play for an average of 11 minutes per game. A figure like this makes me wonder, why is football our favorite sport? Why is the Superbowl, a one-day event, the biggest thing in the world on what would normally be just a regular Sunday. In fact, isn’t it weird that a game of football is only played once a week, for 17 weeks, where as baseball, basketball and hockey plays four to five times a week? 

Why do we settle for sports in which we can only watch minimal play? Wouldn’t we, as true fans of the game, want it to be played more so we can attain greater enjoyment? I know there has to be a balance as majoirty of the criticism for baseball is that there are too many games to watch and the game moves too slow. But according to the article, in football there is an average of 40 seconds between each and every play where the game is stagnant. Talk about slow, but sports like basketball, hockey, and soccer have a more consistent length of play.

Finally, the football playoff system is much different than anything else we watch. Excluding the nonsense structure of the BCS in college football, the NFL is the only sport of the 5 majors ones that have a completely single elimination tournament. Baseball, basketball, and hockey all have five to seven games series to determine who advances to the next round. And even soccer, for those who don’t know, play on the aggregate system where the two teams will play two games, one at home and the other away, and the team with the higher gross number of goals after the two matches advances. Football, however, is one game a week, and if you get a bye, three wins make you a champ. Where’s the competition in that? And again, the NFL teams compete less than any other sport, in yet its out favorite. At least college basketball, no matter what seed you get, you must win out at least six straight games to win it all.

So my point is that sports have become more of an event than a competition. We like football for the athletic plays, hard hits, and for the athletes who turned to celebrities that play. But if 11 minutes is all that it takes to make the “greatest sport in the world,” as my professor would say the “Sizzle out-weighs Steak.” Meaning that we now watch sports for the flashing lights, the dramatic montages, the $3.5 million dollar commercials, and the beer.