The NFL has marketing geniuses, where the others don't
Football is also only 1 game/week. I think if it ran 162 games like baseball, you'd hear less fanfare. With FB, it seems like once you get into the season, it's over.
It seems to have become ingrown into our culture, even our schools. When I was in high school, the FB players were gods. They got special treatment and got away with a lot, because the principal was the head FB coach. The game on Friday was priority #1 and he didn't want his players to miss it. Granted, in small-town Wisconsin, there isn't much to do except football on Friday night.
Kids who show an ability to play football are propped up at an early age, and at times seem to be worshiped all the way to adulthood. Those who are good at other sports are not as well favored.
Dave Winfield wrote a book, "Dropping the Ball", which talks about the lack of black baseball players today as opposed to 30 years ago. He points out that basketball and football just do a better job at P.R. than baseball and other sports.
I saw a discussion on ESPN regarding football and baseball and their views on steroid use. The question was asked why do people get upset at steroid use in baseball but look the other way at its use in football. The answer? We like to watch 350 pound guys tackle someone and we're willing to look the other way. It's like it's expected in football.
Baseball was always the clean-cut, all-American sport. In recent years, it's fallen from grace thanks to strikes, steroids, etc. We seem to hold those players to a higher standard than football.
NASCAR is catching on big-time, but the spirit of the sport has suffered. I hear a lot of the newer fans complaining about Jeff Gordon or how dirty Dale Sr. used to race. They forget the sport was always that way, after all, it was started by moonshine runners.
Basketball had a huge audience a few years ago, but I hear their numbers are declining, largely do their acceptance of the gangsta lifestyle and fashion. This alienated a large segment of the population. They even tried to clean up their image by requiring players to dress in suits when arriving for games, instead of wearing baggy clothes or backwards caps.
Hockey is probably seeing the widest growth, but it's still too regional. (I still can't believe California, Arizona, and Florida have teams.
) I think we have college hockey to thank for its growth. Those games are well attended and expose the sport to those who may not see it otherwise.
And a 6 hour Super Bowl pre-game show?
Maybe there's no scientific explanation for it. Maybe it's as simple as this: they're all just a bunch of high school and college jocks who can't let go of their past and Al Bundy is their leader.
