Event Planning of the Super Bowl

Event Planning of the Super Bowl

Introduction

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), pitting the winner of the American Football Conference (AFC) against the winner of the National Football Conference (NFC). The idea of the championship game, including the name Super Bowl, came from discussions and negotiations between the NFL and its chief rival, the American Football League (AFL) in the late 1960s.

At that time, the game served as a championship between the best NFL and AFL teams. The first NFL/AFL championship game was played in 1967 and continued until the merger was completed in 1970. During that time, the term Super Bowl emerged, in reference to a game Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, observed children playing. That game was called Super Ball, and was invented by Norman Stingley in 1965 and manufactured by Wham-O (Leiker & Ellenport, 2005).

Discussion

Management

Planning the Super Bowl, including site selection, media broadcasts, Super Bowl-related event programming, and management of risk (e.g., crowd control and threat management) requires an estimated four to five years to complete. Because of this extensive planning process, and the worldwide recognition of the Super Bowl as a mega-event, it is considered by many to be one of the hallmarks of sports event management, rivaled only by the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. Any discussion of management of the Super Bowl should include steps taken by the NFL to create this mega-event, including site selection, media, programming, and risk management.

Site Selection

Selection of a Super Bowl site is usually completed five years before the event. In order to host a Super Bowl, cities (often in conjunction with a local NFL franchise) bid to host the game. Several rules have traditionally guided site selection including: (1) the site must be in or near the city of an NFL franchise, (2) the facility must be prepared to hold the game (evaluation based on recent or promised renovations), and (3) the site must be in a warm-weather climate (50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius) unless the venue is completely covered by a roof. Franchise owners meet to debate locations and vote on future sites. It is important to note that some rules may be waived (Coakley, 2008). Evidence of this is found in selection of New Jersey's Meadowlands Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 (in violation of the warm-weather climate rule). Furthermore, the NFL commissioner has noted an interest in holding the Super Bowl outside the U.S. in England's Wembley Stadium (in violation of the NFL franchise site rule).

Media

Televised Super Bowl broadcasts have garnered some of the largest single-program viewing audiences. The U.S. audience represents the largest portion of worldwide viewers. Super Bowl broadcasts represent some of the most watched television programs of all time. The 106.5 million viewers who watched Super Bowl XLIV (February 7, 2010), pitting the New Orleans Saints against the Indianapolis Colts, beat the long-standing record for the most-viewed television broadcast previously held by ...