Chiefs Repeat, Closer to (but Not yet), a Dynasty [Video]

by Dave Torromeo

A 360 recap of Super Bowl LVIII

Latin Biz Today advisory board member & Sports lead and two of his sports management students weigh in on Super Bowl LVIII

The Aftermath 
It’s hard to put into words why anybody would be shooting at a Super Bowl parade and killing innocent people, I clearly do not have the answers, and I don’t know if anybody does. But the insanity of the situation just frustrates all of us. I’m so sorry for the innocent victims and the families and those who have to deal with the ramifications of this for the rest of their lives.

The Game
So, the Super Bowl is over in a football season that started back in August with the preseason and has come to a conclusion in mid-February.

The game was entertaining, of course the overtime ending makes it an instant classic in some people’s views. But it certainly was not “Classic” in every sense of the word. In fact, it was by most standards, an average game. Don’t get me wrong I’m not being a naysayer or a pessimist or trying to throw shade at the game that the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers played “Super Bowl” Sunday. There was a lot of sloppiness, fumbles, a huge mistake on a muffed punt that turned the game around, a big missed holding penalty, etc.

The officials “let them play” and all I can say is, every game — Oh my God, regular season, playoffs and the Super Bowl, should be treated (officiated) THE SAME WAY!

Did the Niners choke?
In my humble opinion, yes. But, remember, they were fortunate to beat Green Bay and Detroit handed them the NFC Championship Game on a platter.

Too many mistakes and the overtime decision to take the ball was a head scratcher at best and botched decision, that despite Niners head coach, Kyle Shanahan doubling down on, makes absolutely Tip no sense. The way to look at it is how one would the college overtime. You want to hold your opponent or at least see what you need to do to continue or win the game. The only way it makes sense is if he felt the defense was tired…but HE DID NOT SAY THAT! But to hear 49ers players say after the game, and now with released audio during the game, that they did not know the rules is beyond mind boggling!

Either way, this was the most watched TV event, EVER making those advertisers who shelled out $7 million for every :30 feel “pretty, pretty good” as Larry David says.

The Commercials
Of course these are always going to be subjective. You’re never going to appeal to everybody sense of humor or to everybody’s likings or to everybody’s morals in a commercial unless you’re going classic “Clydesdales and puppy dog” which is always going to win the day for me. In case you didn’t know that dog belongs to married couple, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn and his name is Roy!

Some of the commercials that try to use humor quite frankly just miss the target for me and sometimes I don’t even know what their product is to be honest. But I also watched the game sober. I’m not here to rank, best commercials, but I will just say that I got into the wrong business when I didn’t open an advertising agency.

The Entertainment
Clearly, I’m not the demographic for the Super Bowl halftime shows anymore, but I was clearly not as offended by this as some of the other previous shows. I thought it was entertaining and I thought they put a lot of time and effort into the show. But remember, I’m a guy who just wants to watch a freaking football game, I don’t need the frills or hype! I understand this is no longer just “a game,” but it’s all I really care about. If I want to be entertained, I can go to a concert at any time or go watch a parade or a show.

By the way, I am not one who objects to the TAYLOR/Travis relationship and while I don’t need to see every minute of it on the TV camera, I thought they kept it with a reason. Maybe I’ll see them walking the beach in Rhode Island this summer!?

The Venue
Las Vegas seems terrific Super Bowl city, but I was not there. I’m thinking they made money throughout the week, especially in their venues that offer sportsbooks as well as other gambling products.

What’s Next
Well, pitchers and catchers if you were a true sports fan in the US, and like the change of seasons as I do. I don’t really need to see another football game or hear about another Football event until the end of August, but they’ll keep coming as each sport now tries to take the calendar year and make it full of their draft, free agency signings, preseason, postseason, blah, blah blah, and of course, there is spring football in another league, but I am frankly not one who will spend more than 10 minutes watching,

Why do I feel like the crotchety old man in the room?

Youth reaction: Let’s hear from some of my sport management grad students at Manhattanville College

First up is: sport management grad student Megan Musselman

“Super Bowl LVIII was definitely an entertaining football game. As a 24-year-old female sports fanatic, I was excited for the game even before the kickoff. The pre-game buzz was unreal, and the game itself lived up to the hype. The first quarter was very defensive and portrayed great football, except to an average fan this might not have been the most exciting start. Both the Chiefs and 49ers brought the heat, and that back-and-forth battle went down to the wire! Mahomes’ clutch throws were insane, and Deebo Samuel’s moves were straight-up sorcery. I expected the Chiefs to win, and happily rooted for them as I was able to experience the Chiefs fanbase at the Power lights distract during my undergraduate years in Columbia, Missouri. Towards the end I thought the Niners fell short and could have easily taken the win. However, I wasn’t surprised that the Chiefs were able to overcome in the end, because Mahomes has the experience and the mental toughness to overcome these situations, always putting himself in an underdog mentality.  I can’t deny the Chiefs earned that win.

The media was very focused on Taylor Swift and the Kelcy family. I believe it was overpowering at times because it’s been constantly in the media. I wish there would have been more focus on other stars and fans attending the game such as the WNBA players from the Phoenix Sun. However, I might be more biased because I’d love to see more airtime empowering people and young girls to get involved in athletics rather than focusing on “power couples”. However, it must have been entertaining for Taylor’s fan base, and the niche that prefers the media aspect over the game aspect of the Super Bowl because the super bowl set a record with123.4 million viewers. The commercials kept me laughing and engaged throughout. My favorite commercial was the Duolingo commercial, I have a personal connection with Duolingo since I use it every day to learn Portuguese, but I thought the commercial was still funny and I connected well with it. My favorite commercial was the NFL Ghanian boy commercial. It did a good job of empowering kids in underdeveloped areas to follow their dreams through sport. Aliens was a common theme in commercials and movie trailers which is ironic because the ratings broke the record for American viewership since the moon landing. The commercials kept me laughing and engaged throughout. The half-time show had some great moments, and a few messy moments. Overall, it resonated well with the people in my age group.”  Megan Musselman

Next up is Michael Mezzina:

“As I watched the Super Bowl yesterday and was able to watch one of the worst games I have seen, until the end, I believe there were a few commercials that got my attention and I thought were effective. Usually, the Super Bowl is known for its funny and entertaining commercials that catch everyone’s eyes.

In my opinion, I think the commercials haven’t been good for a long time, but I do think there were a few that caught my eye. The first commercial I loved was the Dunkin Donuts commercial featuring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Brady, and Matt Damon. In the commercial, Ben Affleck, the leader of the group creates a boyband, the DunKings, as they are ready to bring “The Boston Massacre” to Jennifer Lopez, who is Ben Affleck’s wife and widely fame singer and actress. In the band is Tom Brady, former New England Patriot legend, and famous actor, Matt Damon, who is from Massachusetts. It is a well-known thing that the Boston people love their Dunkin Donuts. So, for this commercial, it was very fitting to include Tom Brady who is New England’s favorite Quarterback, as well as Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon who are both from Massachusetts and are well known actors in the world.

In terms of marketing and advertising, I think Dunkin Donuts did a great job. In the opening cut, you see a Dunkin Donuts blinged cup which, right away, catches your eye, and you already know this is a Dunkin Donut’s commercial. Then when the boyband storm in with Affleck at the front, they are all decked out in this DunKings track suit which is bright orange and hard to miss. This commercial makes you laugh because of how funny Ben Affleck looks in that studio trying to show off with Matt Damon and Tom Brady on the keys. Not sure if anyone caught it, but at the end, Matt Damon says, “How do you like them… donuts? I’m so sorry.” I personally laughed at that because it was a line from his old movie, Good Will Hunting, which took place in Boston.”

Another commercial I found that caught my attention was the KIA commercial. The commercial was about this young girl at her ice-skating competition, it cuts to her father sitting with an empty seat next to him and you can see the young girl is upset. Then it cuts to them in the new KIA EV9 driving to a house. The father brings out lights, and a speaker which is all powered by the new KIA EV9 and the young girl’s grandfather sits in his house watching his granddaughter ice skate in this big sheet of ice behind his house. We can tell that the grandfather is unable to walk and is taken care of by a caregiver so he could not make the actual competition, but now because of the car and the father’s idea, he can let the grandfather watch his granddaughter ice skate in his backyard. You can see the emotion in his face as he writes a 10 on the foggy window giving his granddaughter a perfect score. It was a heart-felt moment and caught my eyes as well as my family members watching.


I think KIA took a very interesting approach to this commercial as it demonstrated how good the new KIA EV9 is and how it can power up a speaker and lights as well as drive through the woods and snow, which I think was good. But the obvious answer is because of the message behind it and how it leaves you feeling good inside. I think now when many think of KIA they will remember that commercial and maybe make them more inclined to look for a KIA.

I think both commercials I discussed did a great job with their advertising throughout the commercial. In addition to the commercials and advertising, there are many revenue streams around the Super Bowl and ways the NFL make more money. One easy way is through merchandising for both teams as well as the event, the Super Bowl. They can make so much money from all the people going throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The next revenue stream the Super Bowl and NFL make money is through their sponsors and advertisers like Budweiser and Apple Music who sponsored the halftime show. Lastly, another revenue stream is that it was in Las Vegas and the gambling that the people can do on the game. There are some many different bets that people could bet on, and it only helps the Super Bowl and the NFL that Las Vegas hosted the event. In addition to all that, the twitter post that you gave us showed that there were 115 million viewers, $7,000 get-in ticket price, $15 million halftime show, $7 million 30 second commercials, $600 million in ad revenue for CBS, and 1,000+ private jets and $2.5 million suites. The amount of money that goes into paying for ads, getting a commercial or just buying a ticket shows how insane this event really is. The Super Bowl and the NFL generate so much revenue that they don’t know what to do with it.” Michael Mezzina

Back soon with a spring update. Keep the Faith! Dave Torromeo

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