Category Archives: Uncategorized
Eskimo Bliss
The price for an average seat dipped to about $5,100 by Monday morning, but that’s still well ahead of the resale price of each Super Bowl SeatGeek has tracked since 2010.
–A.J. Perez, USA TODAY Sports, “Super Bowl tickets averaging more than $5,000”
For a sporting event that is well-embedded in popular culture and is perceived as the ultimate fan’s journey, $5,000/ticket just might be the cut-off for most people.
The play to “buy” a big screen television for the weekend of the Super Bowl and then return it days later because of a “space problem” in the family room is still alive and well. But for most people, spending $500 to $1,000 for a new TV is not a spur of the moment decision.
Keeping this in mind, what are we to think when a ticket to a championship game is a 5 to 10-fold spike compared to a new high-definition TV?
From a branding perspective, the NFL may be enduring its second major headache in recent years. When fans watch preseason games, the regular season and playoffs, they are invested in their team. As we know with ourselves, friends, family and random grown men dressed as gritty Vikings, we take this game seriously. And, if everything magically goes to plan through heroic victories and prayer, it can all lead to…
the Super Bowl!
Hwever, it appears that fans are being priced out of the NFL’s biggest game.
The headline of $5,000 per ticket to attend the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California will irk most people, especially fans of the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. This pricing doesn’t even give people with good to great finances a chance or even a worthwhile bang for the buck. How can this discouraging trend be reversed? Odds are that this pivot will have to result from fans protesting and not going, visibly showing tens of thousands of empty seats during football’s most important showcase of the season. But what are the chances of that kind of random unanimity among all those non-media, non-VIP fans?
What are the odds of the Cleveland Browns going to the Super Bowl next year?
The image that attending the Super Bowl is only for celebrities and CEO’s will surely continue. At a certain point though, people will see what they need to through the highest definition in their living rooms (or their neighbor’s man cave). And living in a society that is increasingly pushing us towards building our own personal entertainment suites with gadgets and screens galore will have an effect on the multiple generations of current NFL fans, plus future generations who will be raised to know and believe the Super Bowl is simply a digital destination.
In the meantime, if only there was someway to overcome the impossible task of bypassing the $5,000 price tag?
And just when all appears lost and seeing, say, an Eskimo in the stands at the Super Bowl seems more likely than you obtaining that mirage of a ticket…
Boy Meets World: For the win.
Happy Monday!
One more…song?
The 2015 Steve Jobs movie, featuring Michael Fassbender (who actually didn’t look like the title character) is the latest cinematic treatment of the Apple co-founder who changed the way we perceive and anticipate technology.
In fact, this movie is almost ready to earn a permanent spot on our movie shelf (February 16th, to be exact).
After watching the past few movies about Mr. Jobs, the preeminent film still hasn’t arrived and, quite possibly, may never arrive at a theater near you. Fully capturing this tech icon’s life and career into a script as innovative and compelling as his products has proven an allusive task.
But what about a song?
The Maccabees did not write “Grew Up at Midnight” for Steve Jobs, but composer Daniel Pemberton (2015’s Steve Jobs movie) recognized how this song with a smashing crescendo paints the scene of a grand legacy coming into focus. And it was all sparked from an imaginatively ambitious youth.
The song was a perfect fit for the film.
This song is also a perfect fit for those who recognize the value in biting into an apple at midnight.
Have an Insanely Great Week!
Watching the Oscars in Black & White
The golden statue’s rust can be seen from across the pond.
The Academy Awards, set for its Sunday broadcast on February 28th, has been dealing with a bit of controversy because of an absence of nominations for black actors and actresses. Attempting to take the bird’s eye view of this issue, there seem to be two schools of thought on the matter.
Will Smith, who could have been nominated for his portrayal of the doctor that blew the roof off the head injury problem in the NFL in the film Concussion, has stated he and his wife will boycott the Academy Awards.
“We’ve discussed it and we’re a part of this community, but at this current time, we’re uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is OK.”
–Will Smith, Us Weekly
Michael Caine, the beloved 82 year-old British actor who was denied an Oscar nomination for his starring role in Youth, had a few things to say on the controversy. He spoke about the importance of nominating an actor based on performance and not skin color and that Idris Elba not receiving a nod from the Academy for Beasts of No Nation was surprising. He added a couple more thoughts.
“Well, look at me. I won the [European Film Award for] best actor [for Youth], and I got nominated for nothing else.”
–Michael Caine, The Hollywood Reporter
Plus this.
“Be patient. Of course, it will come. Of course, it will come. It took me years to get an Oscar.”
–Michael Caine, The Hollywood Reporter
And, perhaps, there’s a third point of view.
Ironically, the biggest star at the upcoming 88th Academy Awards will probably be Chris Rock.
Embrace Today
Throwback Thursday + National Hug Day =
Dave Matthews?
Dave Matthews Band released a music video for the upbeat song, “Everyday” released back in 2001. This video is a pleasant reminder of the tone music videos projected just a little more than a decade ago.
It’s just a hug.
Actually, we all know it’s much more.
Happy Throwback Thursday & National Hug Day!
Jimmy's Daily Planet 