The NFL season came down to Sunday night and for the first time since 1997, the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl, a 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Super Bowl, the NFL's prize for the last team standing come February, is probably the only professional sports award that gets the attention it gets for, not just one day or one night, but a good two full weeks of media stuff.
When Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger decides which cereal to indulge in first thing in the morning, or what he decides to spend his time doing that evening, is guaranteed to make some headline in someone's newspaper.
The Super Bowl takes over the USA and a good bit of Canada each and every year even if nobody cares for either of the teams playing in it.
It was essentially a battle of the QBs-Aaron Rodgers vs. Ben Roethlisberger: the unproven vs. the proven. Following his first loss in the biggest game of the year, Roethlisberger blamed himself for everything that went wrong.
Whereas Rodgers had the biggest moment of his NFL career.
Rodgers was also able to effectively throw the ball down the field.
Both were also in the media spotlight for a good two weeks. Each year, at about this time, there are internet reports everywhere about what kinds of records the big game might make.
According to ParkWhiz.com, anyone who made the trip to Dallas Cowboys Stadium by car and was looking for a parking spot, was faced with a cost of $990.
Professional football in the USA remains the favourite game among Americans who follow at least one sport, voted by 31 per cent of fans who took part in a survey. Other sports making the list include baseball, college football (12), auto racing (7) and men's pro basketball (6).
Spending in the US on Super Bowl merchandise is expected to reach $10.1 billion, up from $8.9 billion last year, according to a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.
Advertising costs skyrocket during the NFL finale, too. Any company wishing to promote themselves for a 30-second spot in the Super Bowl, are faced with a price tag of up to $3M.
From 2001 through to last year's game, the Super Bowl has accounted for over seven hours of commercial time. That includes more than 850 announcements.
A good idea of how much the game means to Americans, according to a study, nearly 150,000 out-of-state visitors and 4,600 media were expected during Super Bowl week.
Last but not least, Super Bowl XLV is forecast to have an economic impact of $612M on the Dallas area. If true, that would be an all-time record.
If there's anything you'd like to see covered by Game 7, please forward your suggestions to the Yorkton This Week sportsdesk by phone (306) 782-2465, fax (306) 786-1898 or email me at jeff@yorkton this week.com
