Nicholas Johnson
The Gazette, January 18, 2015, p. C2
I can understand someone being a fan of high school football. Students know the players sitting with them in class. Parents come to the games. It’s a community thing; a neighborly thing. Sometimes fans’ enthusiasm gets a little out of hand, but mostly it falls short of physical violence and destruction of property.
Even small college football retains some of these qualities. Big money college sports? Not so much.
But NFL football? What is that all about?
Big money college football engages the pretense that players are “student-athletes.” There’s less hypocrisy in the NFL. It’s big moneymaking commercial enterprise pure and simple. It does not even pretend to be anything else. Fans cannot possibly have any more emotional or nostalgic tie to their “local” NFL team than they would have to their local Ford dealer.
Think about it. With the exception of the community-owned Green Bay Packers, NFL teams are “owned” by someone, just like that Ford dealership is owned. Local citizens’ tie to the team is primarily the contribution they made, as taxpayers, to building a multi-hundred-million-dollar stadium where the millionaire players of the billionaire owner stage some of the TV industry’s most profitable programs.
Many NFL team owners, and most of the players, have no prior tie to the community. Few citizens have the sense of having grown up with them. Indeed, given the prices for skyboxes and tickets few citizens can afford to see those owners and players anywhere other than on a television screen.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ll be watching Super Bowl XLIX along with the millions of my fellow Americans who will make it one of the highest rated TV programs in 2015. It’s good television. In fact, as an FCC commissioner, ABC’s football coverage struck me at the time as programming that optimizes television’s technological potential.
It’s live, unrehearsed, and unpredictable in outcome. It takes place within a defined area, permitting the positioning of lights, cameras, and mikes for optimized coverage and close-ups. The timeouts enable commercial breaks consistent with the programming. And it inspires the innovation of such features as instant replay, overhead cameras, digitally positioned scrimmage lines on the field, and other features that now include a virtual 3-D appearance on large, HDTV home screens.
And these games are just a TV show in another sense.
The NFL, as a television production company, is in many ways a single corporate entity. The players are only competitors for the time of the game on the field. To ensure that their competition is close enough to be attractive to audiences and advertisers, efforts are made to equalize the ability of those teams — through rules about the draft of new, replacement players (similar to “replacement smokers” for the tobacco industry), and the sharing of revenues.
The teams’ owners are kind of board members of the parent corporation, the NFL. They make the rules and hire the CEO. The players are sometimes traded between teams, know each other, and often appear quite friendly to the “opposing” players. Yes, one team “lost” and the other “won” — but in reality, the players on both teams won a lifestyle otherwise unavailable to most of them.
So what is this fan loyalty about? I think it’s embedded in our DNA. It’s a carry-over from when our family loyalties extended to our tribes — tribes that still war in many parts of the world where the NFL has not yet offered an alternative. Without the NFL, if Americans really understood the income inequality from which they suffer we might have another American revolution. Without our tribal loyalties to NFL teams we might be inclined to start even more wars abroad.
So relax. Give thanks to the NFL. Enjoy the games. But if your favorite tribe loses, remember: It’s not just “only a game.” The reality is that “it’s only a TV show.”
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• Nicholas Johnson, a former FCC commissioner and former sports law professor, maintains nicholasjohnson.org and FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com. Comments: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org
The Original Blog Essay
January 2, 2015
I can kind of understand someone being a fan of high school football. In high school the fans know the players. Players sit alongside the other students in class. Parents come to the games. It's a community thing; a neighborly thing. Sometimes the fans' enthusiasm gets a little out of hand, but mostly it falls short of physical violence and destruction of property.
Even small college football retains some of these qualities. Big money college sports? Not so much.
Big money college ball at least engages in the pretense that the players are "student athletes." There's less hypocrisy in the NFL. It is a big money-making commercial enterprise pure and simple. It does not even pretend to be anything else. Fans cannot possibly have even as much of an emotional or nostalgic tie to their "local" NFL team than they would have to their local Ford dealer.
Think about it. With the exception of the community-owned Green Bay Packers, NFL teams are "owned" by someone, just like that Ford dealership is owned. The local citizens' tie to the team is primarily the contribution they made, as taxpayers, to building a multi-hundred-million-dollar stadium where the millionaire players of the billionaire owner stage some of the most profitable television programs in the industry. Many of those owners, and most of the players, have had no prior tie to the community. Few citizens have the sense of having grown up with them. Indeed, given the ticket prices for the games, few citizens could afford to ever see those owners and players anywhere other than on their television screens.
Now don't get me wrong. I'll be watching Super Bowl XLIX along with millions of my fellow Americans who will make it one of the highest rated TV programs in 2015. It's good television. In fact, as an FCC commissioner, ABC's football coverage struck me at the time as probably, from a technological perspective, a form of programming that optimized what TV has to offer. It's live, unrehearsed, and unpredictable in outcome. It takes place within a defined area, permitting the positioning of lights, cameras, and mikes for optimized coverage including closeups. The timeouts enable commercial breaks consistent with the programming. And it inspires the innovation of instant replay, digitally positioned scrimmage lines on the field, and other features -- now with the virtually 3-D appearance with HDTV and large home screens.
And these games are just a TV show in another sense. The NFL, as a television production company, is in many ways a single corporate entity. The individual teams are only competitors for the time of the game on the field. To make sure that competition is close enough to be exciting, efforts are made to equalize the ability of those teams -- through rules about the draft of new, replacement players (similar to "replacement smokers" for the tobacco industry), and the sharing of revenues. The team owners are kind of board members of the parent corporation, the NFL, who make the rules and hire the CEO. The players are sometimes traded between teams, know each other, and often appear quite friendly to the "opposing" players following the game in which one team "lost" and the other "won" -- because, in reality, both won a lifestyle otherwise unavailable to most of them.
So what is this fan loyalty about? I think it's a part of our DNA; a carryover from when our family loyalties extended to our tribes -- tribes that still war in many parts of the world where the NFL has not yet offered an alternative. Without the NFL, if Americans really understood the income inequality from which they suffer we might have another American revolution. Without our tribal loyalties to NFL teams we might be even more inclined to go to war.
So relax. Give thanks to the NFL. Enjoy the games. But if your favorite tribe loses, remember: It's not just "only a game." The reality is that "it's only a TV show."
3 comments:
So, you're a Packer fan, then?
John: There are (at least) two possible interpretations of your question: (1) you're just curious and serious (possibly because you're a Packer fan yourself); (2)you're needling me. Knowing you, I assume it's the latter: I question how anyone can be a "fan" of an NFL team; and yet my implied praise of the Packers suggests I must be a Packers fan.
In either case, the answer turns on the response Bill Clinton might have made: "It all depends on what the meaning of 'fan' is."
I do far prefer the ownership model of the Packers to that of the usual NFL team ownership. That certainly makes me a "fan" of the City of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
But if "fan" is defined in terms of the usual indicia of fandom I would not qualify as a "fan" of the city's TEAM.
I am not a season ticket holder, do not attend every game, have in fact never attended a Packers' game. I did not buy one of the $200 shares of stock when offered a couple years ago. I do not own or drape myself with coats, hats, or other wearables emblazoned with the Packers' logo, nor do I possess other objects, such as mugs, so identified.
I will admit that on those rare occasions when a TV set happens to be on in my home, or that of a friend, and it appears that the Packers are engaged in the game of football, I have been known to glance at the screen occasionally, and even cheer (very softly) for the City of Green Bay when the City warrants that response.
-- Nick
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