Dollars & Sense - Super Bowl 2013 Primer

There has been a petition going around.  This petition is a sports fan's dream... to make the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday. (You can find the petition here).  It really is an interesting proposal which got me thinking, what if?

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Everybody has their Super Sunday staples. Wings, pizza, beer, what have you. Would making the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday cause an uptick in spending on these foods?  As I add in my two cents, I want you to share yours in the comments section.  What is your favorite Super Bowl foods and drinks?  Do you think that having the Monday after the Super Bowl off would increase beer sales?

Wings

We all know that Americans love to eat, and what a better time to chow down than on the extra special occasion of Super Bowl Sunday.  It's the perfect excuse to bring together friends and family.  Whether people eat at large parties, in small groups, or on their own does not matter.  What matters is that the food will be free flowing and in huge demand.

This is exactly why 1.23 billion wings will be sold and eaten on Super Sunday.  Really, it is simple math.  Wings and sports just harmonize together (just as wings and beer, just as beer and sports, and just as wings and beer and sports).  Assuming that the reported wing shortage can be overcome, we know that the chicken wings will be plentiful.

In a surprising turn, 57% of Americans prefer to eat their wings with ranch dressing and only 35% prefer bleu cheese dressing (I would assume the remaining 8% prefers naked).  I thought this was surprising considering my personal bias leans 100% bleu cheese.  Honestly, if there was only ranch dressing, then I would probably prefer to eat wings naked.  

Pizza

Last year the chains of Dominoes, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's reported that they delivered a total of 44 million pizzas on the Sunday of the big game.  This year will likely see around the same numbers in pizza delivery.  (I will say that I'm disappointed that people went for the chains that provide "pizza" and not a local pizza shop, but who am I anyway).

Pizza is the logical choice when have a group of people together.  Easy to switch up.  Everybody likes some sort of pizza.  But beware of the pizza chain pizza.  Check out this horrifying tweet from @EatThisNotThat:

Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Meat Lover's Pizza takes it too far—cheesy crust, pepperoni, ham, beef, bacon, sausage, and 480 calories a slice!
— Eat This, Not That! (@EatThisNotThat) January 30, 2013

Beer

Beer and other forms of alcohol (no not butt-chugging) was what really came to mind when I heard about the petition for making the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday.  The Super Bowl is reportedly the seventh highest beer sales occasion of the year (the number of cases of beer sold in the two weeks before the event).  Before the big game, a reported 49.2 million cases were sold last year. 

If you were wondering, the Fourth of July ranks numero uno in that category with a whopping 62.5 million cases of beer sold in the two weeks leading up to the date.  That number may be aided by the fact that it is the summer, and summer is naturally more of a beer drinking season than the winder.  You get the point, though.

I was thinking, though, would having the next day off increase the number of cases of beer sold?    Think about it... How many people out there set a drink limit for themselves because of an 8 hour day looming on Monday?  How many people are going to listen to the San Francisco mayor's suggestion for bars to go liquor free during the Super Bowl?

Instinctively, I would think that having the day after the Super Bowl would help beer/liquor sales.  There is less to worry about and less consequence.  Even if one out of every five or six or even 10 beer drinkers drinks one more beer, that is still a lot of beer. 

The thing that makes me really think about it is wondering how many people would actually have off.  Just because it is a national holiday does not mean that everyone's business is closed.  It would all depend and, given my background, impossible to truly forecast.  

It is, however, something to think about.  This petition is truly unique to football.  It could never happen in Major League Baseball or the National Basketball Association or the National Hockey League.  Their highest honor is determined by a series of games.  The position shows the NFL's dominance in the landscape of not just sports but the entire culture.  It really makes you think, what if?

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Super Bowl Commercials Pre-Released

Every year, millions and millions of people tune into the Super Bowl... for the commercials.  Companies have caught on to this trend and have begun digital media campaigns prior to the big game to begin capitalizing on the game's momentum before super Sunday.  

Youtube has launched a page called Adblitz which features a funny, parody infomercial from Tide advertising their new Stain Savers (see below).  Tide is also pushing the use of the hashtag #miraclestain to further consumer engagement with the brand leading up to Sunday.  The channel also features other Super Bowl content including NFL videos, player interviews, and tailgating recipes.

Volkswagen also released their commercial for this year's game here.

And Century 21 here. 

Axe too here. 

This year, a 30 second ad spot during CBS's broadcast of the game cost a reported $3.8 million.  For those counting that's about $126,666.67 PER SECOND. That is a Super Bowl record.  

Is the idea of companies releasing their Super Bowl ads beforehand a good idea?

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Super Bowl Must Reads

Here are a few must reads before the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers square off in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday night on CBS.  

Kevin Van Valkenburg (ESPN) writes about the man that may be a bigger leader for the Ravens than Ray Lewis: Ed Reed.

Dan Wetzel (Yahoo Sports) writes about Colin Kaepernick, the controversy surrounding him, and the man that put it on him.

Tommy Tomlinson (Sports on Earth) writes about Barack Obama, Bernard Pollard, and their feelings on the game of football as we know it. 

Frank Bruni (NY Times) writes about Brandon Ayanbadejo's fight for the LGBT community during Super Bowl week. 

Dave Zirin (The Nation) weighs in on Brandon Ayanbadejo's cause as well. 

Bruce Arthur (National Post) wrights that you should not ask Ray Lewis about the two dead men because he is not talking about the past.

Darren Rovell (ESPN) explains why Super Bowl ticket prices are plummeting in the week of the anticipated HarBowl. 

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Degenerate Gambler Top Prop Bets

Distance of the shortest punt of the game - over/under 35.5 yards.

What will the coin toss be - heads (-105) or tails (-105)

Who will win the coin toss - Ravens (-105) or 49ers (-105)

Full list of team prop bets from Bovada here.


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Awesome Non-NFL-Affiliated Promotions

Do NFL lawyers call Chipotle on this one? say.ly/qGp53KE
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) January 29, 2013

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Here is your Pep Talk for the Super Bowl.

2014 Dodgers TV Deal

About two months ago, it looked like the Dodgers were about to sign a long term deal with Fox Sports for TV rights. I was certainly convinced. I wrote about the deal that was expected to be valued at $6 billion over 25 years. Recent news has shown that Time Warner Cable will have the TV rights to the Dodgers starting in 2014.

The Dodgers have decided to start SportsNet LA, a regional sports network, that will carry the Dodger games starting in 2014. Time Warner Cable will carry the network. The deal is reportedly worth $7 billion over a 25 year period starting in 2014. Dodgers owner Mark Walter spoke on the creation of SportsNet LA saying, "we concluded last year that the best way to give our fans what they want, more content and more Dodger baseball, was to launch our own network."

Dodgers president, Stan Kasten, commented in a statement from the Dodgers saying, "The launch of the new regional sports network is a historic development for the Dodgers and our passionate fans. Our commitment from day one has been to build the Dodgers into the best team possible, both on and off the field. Our fans deserve the best, the best players, the best baseball, and the best experience, whether that's at the newly renovated Dodger Stadium or on television."

The deal is not finalized yet. It is unlikely the deal will go through without some issue from Major League Baseball. It is likely the MLB will have an issue regarding revenue sharing in the deal. According the MLB rules, a team that has their own TV network can keep the revenue because they are assuming risk. Even with this rule, MLB has the right to establish a broadcasting rights fee based on fair-market value. This can require teams to pay up to 34% of revenue to the revenue sharing plan. The Yankees and the Red Sox are examples of this with their YES Network and NESN.

Final Thought
This deal would be historic in value if it gets done. Most likely Major League Baseball will take the Dodgers to court if they can't work out a deal. Whatever the result of the deal is, the Dodgers have proven they are willing to spend some money to make the team a premier franchise. On the field upgrades and off the field deals should make Dodger fans excited for baseball.

@dmrosen7

Dollars & Sense: Recent Stories Teach Big Lessons

Great sports writers are able to make an athlete, a team, a situation become larger than life.  Fortunately for literate world, there are a lot of great sports writers.  Unfortunately, athletes can sometimes use their larger than life persona in spite of everyone else.

This is what we have seen with the recent and ongoing stories of Lance Armstrong, Manti Te’o, and Ray Lewis.  These athletes offer an interesting case study on sports media coverage.

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Lance Armstrong

Armstrong’s fall is one of the biggest falls from grace that we have ever seen in American sports possibly even the biggest.  He was on top of the world and could seemingly do no wrong.  Going out on top of his cycling career and starting one of the most successful cancer research foundations may not even overtake the accomplishment of inspiring so many to continue on through the battle of their lives. 

His story was one that nobody could ever pass up.  Cancer survivor.  Best cyclist on the planet for a sustained period of time.  A clean cyclist in a dirty sport.  Inspiration to many.  Raising money to help those he has inspired.  Basically, if you could make up one of the best sporting stories ever, you may not be able to top what Armstrong did.

Then it all came crashing down, as we know.  The lying.  The doping.  The intimidation.  The Oprah interview.  Amazingly enough, this may not even rock bottom.  There could be lawsuits and lots of money to be paid. 

Armstrong’s fall from grace is so interesting (to me personally at least) because even with all of the lies and cheating that are now known to be true, some people do not care.  Patients that were battling cancer during Armstrong’s inspiring run do not care.  They know him for what he was to them at the time of the battle.  He helped them and there is no taking it back. 

What could have changed this situation?  Hindsight is 20/20, but if you take the halo off of Armstrong during these times, then things begin to look a little different.  Writers and reporters have been writing stories based on this since October when he gave up his fight with the investigation.  Things seemed so perfect at the time because so much was ignored.  Even though we cannot turn back time, we can do something to change the future.  If something does not seem right, then maybe it is not. 

Manti Te’o

As details about this incident continue to come out and even the details that are out are a bit fuzzy, I am baffled.  I am baffled at the incident.  Sure everybody was caught off-guard with the findings that Te’o’s “girlfriend” was never real.  But was the media coverage of it not a bit excessive?

Opinion: I thought that the media coverage was excessive though you can argue either way.  There was something so wrong about the message on 6pm Sportscenter reading “BREAKING: Manti Te’o’s girlfriend did not exist.”  I don’t think it needed to be as big of a deal that it was.  Honestly, I feel like it was more the media outlets feeling sorry for themselves for publishing so many pro-Te’o is a god among mere mortals stories.

Of course writers like SportsIllustrated’s Pete Thamel did not have the thought to check on this and rightfully so.  Who would?  There has to be some sort of trust between athletes, the media, and the public.  If writers had to sit around and fact check whether or not girlfriends actually exist, then writers would be coming out with maybe two stories per year. 

The Te’o story should not discourage writers from writing about human-interest, off-field stories.  As dangerous as it may be, the public wants their athletes to be placed on the pedestal.  They want to worship these guys.  However, now we know what we get when we worship 21 year old athletes… Fake girlfriends and a good lesson on how to use apostrophes.

Ray Lewis

Lewis’s story is an interesting one because his falling out happened before his rise to greatness.  This gives Lewis’s media praise a unique spin: do I feel right openly rooting for a man that may be connected to a murder?

I understand that some of the public disdain for Lewis and his antics may be racially charged.  Regardless of race, I find it tough to read about the new and improved Ray Lewis now about a dozen years after the incident. 

This whole deal makes me think of the issue with steroids in baseball.  A guy like Alex Rodriguez cannot much without his past steroid use coming back to haunt him.  Oh, A-Rod is having a great season, so he must be back on the juice.  Oh, A-Rod is hurt again, so it must be those steroids finally catching up to him. 

But do something outside of the sport like Lewis and his alleged involvement in a murder, and see how quickly many people forget.  (I am generalizing here.  I was about 10 years old when Ray Lewis had his incident and I still remember it, so I’m sure many others do as well.).

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I liken it all to a relationship if the person you are/were with cheated on you.  You trusted them throughout the relationship (in theory at least), then without your knowledge they did something to hurt you.  Maybe they start to act differently, maybe the people around them start to act differently, but you don't notice because you blindly trust them.  Then it all either hits you one day or they confess.  You start to look back at it all and then in hindsight you realize all of the signs.  That is what we are all doing now on these three stories.  

These stories are stories that require a high duty of care and attention to detail.  They are not easy stories to cover and report on.  The best thing to do is to take the lessons learned from these stories and use them to make the future better.  Just because a writer was lied to (read: cheated on), does not mean that the writer should never write highly about an athlete again (read: fall in love).  But you can be damn sure that that writer will be extra cautious the next time.  Great sports writing makes athletes seem like more than humans, but it is important to always remember that athletes are in fact humans. 

Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

Kings Sold!

Kevin reported a couple weeks ago of the breaking story that the Sacramento Kings were being sold. It has now become official. The current owners of the Sacramento Kings, the Maloof family, will sell the 53 percent ownership of the team. Minority owner, Bob Hernreich, will also be selling his 12 percent stake in the team. Hedge fund manager, Chris Hansen, and Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, will be heading the Seattle based group in the purchase of the team.

The Seattle based group plans to move the franchise to Seattle. In order to do so for the 2013-2014 NBA season, the new ownership must apply for relocation by the March 1st deadline set by the NBA. If this timeline is followed, the board of govenors for the NBA will be able to vote on the relocation at the annual April meetings. Seattle is not new to relocation in the NBA. The city of Seattle had an NBA franchise taken away from them when the Clay Bennett moved the Sonics to Oklahoma City. In this move Bennett left the logo and name of the team in Seattle. Many loyal Seattle basketball fans were devastated to lose the team they grew to love.

Unfortunately that devastation is about to hit Sacramento. Former NBA point guard and mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, is not going to let the team go without a fight. Johnson got permission from NBA commissioner, David Stern, to purpose a counteroffer to the league owners. This counteroffer would allow the Kings to be bought by a group that would keep the team in Sacramento. Johnson gives legitimate reasons to why the franchise should stay in Seattle. He said, "Sacramento has proven that it is a strong NBA market with a fan base that year in and year out has demonstrated a commitment to the Kings by selling out 19 of 27 seasons in a top-20 market and owning two of the longest sellout streaks in NBA history."

The valuation of the team is more than some may have expected at $525 million dollars. This figure does include relocation fees. As many know, stadiums are a large part of NBA deals. Seattle approved in October plans to build a $500 million stadium. NBA superstar, Lebron James, had plenty to say on twitter regarding the valuation of the Kings. He first commented on the valuation saying, "So the Kings getting sold for 525M!! And the owners ain't making no money huh? What the hell we have a (lockout) for. Get the hell out of here." Later he tweeted about Mayor Kevin Johnson's effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento by saying, "I do know Mayor Johnson and the city/fans of Sacramento will do whatever it takes to keep the team put. We'll see what happens #NBAfiles."

Final Thought
This move is good news for the NBA. This move is terrible news for Sacramento. This move is conflicting for Seattle. The NBA is pleased to hear that a franchise like Sacramento is worth a great amount of money. It goes to show how strong the league is. The city of Sacramento will obviously be devastated. Losing a team that you have rooted for must be extremely difficult for the fans of the city. Seattle is finally getting a team back, and they deserve it. They do understand the feeling of losing a team and must feel some sympathy for the city of Sacramento.

@dmrosen7