A day where 5 million dollars are paid for 30 seconds of television, 1,300 million chicken wings are coated in barbecue sauce and tons of avocados arrive in the country, this is the final of American football, the event of the events and an emblem for pop culture and sports.
This Sunday, more than 100 million television sets connect in the USA. with the grand finale of the American football league (NFL), an annual event that goes beyond the sports field and becomes a great event that, in a way, paralyzes the country in a party that celebrates the more recognizable – and trite – of American mass culture.
This is the case of Aaron, who lives in the suburbs of Washington with his partner and holds a meeting with several friends to watch the game.
“We will put the final and we are thinking of ordering pizzas and chicken wings,” says the email that makes the invitation functions.
The idea is not exactly original, because during this event the Americans consume more than 1.3 billion chicken wings, according to estimates of the National Chicken Council, which has just launched a campaign to ask the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the Congress to declare the day after the Super Bowl as a national holiday.
“National Day of Appreciation of the Alita de Pollo”, is the name proposed for the commemoration by this association whose headquarters are three streets from the White House.
As you can see, mention of sport, the origin of this great event, none. But that’s the point.
“Soccer, I just follow the league but this is more than that, SuperBowl is a party, a great American party!” Vanessa comments before entering a bar that organizes that, a party, for sports competition, with balloons and discounts on margaritas and beers for the duration of the game.
The consumption of beer also shoots on this date, with more than 1,200 million liters according to several statistics. In fact, in 2016, the delivery of beer had serious problems to supply the city of San Francisco (California), headquarters of the final that year and that gave big problems to the trucks with their steep slopes.
Atlanta is the host city this year. Statistics estimate that some 150,000 people have arrived in the state capital of Georgia for the Super Bowl, and among its most prominent visitors, in addition to football players, the band Maroon 5 stands out.
The group led by Adam Levine is responsible for entertaining with his performance the rest of the game, the other great moment of this appointment and that years ago have starred in ostentatious performances artists such as Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Coldplay.
This musical act is the great demand of many to sit in front of the television, as summarized by Robbie, a university student who hesitates to attend any of the parties that his campus organizes this Sunday for the Super Bowl.
“I do not play a team that interests me and I’m not a big fan either, but I really like Maroon 5 and you know, it’s the musical number of the year,” says this young man.
The pause, which for spectators is anything but a break, is so important that brands are willing to pay millions of euros for a handful of seconds trying to capture the attention of viewers.
This year, in addition, they have marked record, because the host chain, the CBS, will charge 5.3 million dollars for 30 seconds of advertisement.
A second goes to about $ 175,000 in this market.
But also, like any good party, the Super Bowl splashes the neighbors and involves them in their idle madness.
In Mexico, avocado producers increase exports to the United States. the weeks leading up to the sporting event to the point where about 120 tons of this fruit arrive to make mainly guacamole, according to the Association of Producers and Packers Exporters of Avocado in Mexico.
And not only avocados cross the border, the sign of the Super Bowl will also do it to tune into 15 million Mexican TVs.
Thus, a whole choreography of impossible numbers and parallel circumstances to see the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams compete for the “big bowl”. (EFEUSA) .-
