Screaming into the TV cameras during the Kansas City Chiefs’ victorious Super Bowl post-game delirium, tight end Travis Kelce declared, “Not one of you said the Chiefs were going to win the Super Bowl. Not a single one. Next time the Chiefs say they are going to do something, give some respect to our name!”
I don’t think Webb Weekly is delivered to the Chief’s zip code, but just for the record and Kelce’s information, a few of us did pick the KC tribe to down the high-flying Eagles in this year’s highly entertaining and high-scoring Super Bowl.
Much has been written and second-guessed in the days that have since passed, but although the Eagles lost the game, they carried themselves as true professionals and sportsmen via their own media moments following their desert defeat. While the loss had to sting, head coach Nick Sirianni, center Jason Kelce, and quarterback Jalen Hurts were gracious and eloquent in response to reporter’s questions. But it may have been cornerback James Bradberry who uttered the most truthful response.
It was Bradberry who was whistled for a costly holding penalty during the Chiefs’ late-game drive for the winning field goal. Many pundits thought the call should not have been made, especially in such a crucial Super Bowl moment. But Bradberry owned it all by saying, “It was a holding. I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they [the officials] would let it slide.”
As Chiefs’ place-kicker Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the game perfectly split the uprights, Kansas City could celebrate its second Super Bowl triumph in the past four years while at the same time taking home a tidy $157,000 per player. After licking their wounds, Eagles players were consoled with an $82,000 consolation prize.
Indeed, the Super Bowl is a cash cow for the NFL, with many people feeding at the trough. While most of the players qualify as millionaires, NFL teams have multiple assistants during each game who are in charge of everything related to organizing travel, uniforms, food, hotels, etc.
One of the smaller roles within a franchise during a game is the water boys, who hydrate the players during the game and offer them dry towels. Reports indicate such duties pull down an average annual salary of $53,000, which is similar to wages expected from a college graduate. They also benefit from tips and usually are included when the Super Bowl rings are distributed.
Super Bowl ‘action’ was not limited to the playing surface of Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium. More than 31 million Americans placed bets totaling $7.6 billion, wagering on everything from the coin toss to the final point spread. The American Gaming Association reported both figures were records with an increase of 35 and 78 percent over last year. The gambling business represents a big chunk of the NFL’s record $1.8 billion taken in via sponsorship revenue.
While the NFL rolls in the dough, it was only recently that the League walked away from its long-time sanctimonious stance pertaining to the ills of gambling.
For decades, the NFL lived in fear that legalized gambling would lead to game-fixing and corruption and hurt the integrity of the sport. Prior to its merger with the old AFL, in 1963, the NFL suspended two of its major stars, Hall of Famers Paul Horning of the Green Bay Packers and Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions, for betting on league games and associating with gamblers.
NFL players were even prohibited from participating in events that took place at or were sponsored by casinos. One of the best-known examples occurred in 2015 when Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was blocked from attending a fantasy football event at a convention center attached to a casino in Las Vegas.
But the NFL’s ‘purity’ on the gambling issue fell by the wayside in 2018 following the Supreme Court’s decision removing the federal ban on sports betting, allowing states to legalize it should they choose. Currently, 36 states now offer some form of legal U.S. sports betting, with the Super Bowl ranking as the king of sports wagering.
The NFL quickly jumped under the covers with a bevy of sports betting sites, including Draft Kings, Fan Duel, and Caesars Sportsbook, becoming official partners of the League. The Oakland Raiders moved their operations to ‘Sin City,’ and the League held their 2022 Player Draft in the heart of the gambling capital.
Alex Riethmiller, the NFL’s chief communications executive, is also promoting the new company line.
“Legalized sports betting offers fans additional ways to engage with the game,” Riethmiller rationalized. “The Super Bowl typically has more prop bets than other NFL games, and the expansion of online sports betting makes wagering during the game easier for fans, who can place bets on their phones.”
A recent report from research firm Moffett Nathanson reached this conclusion; “In a few short years, the very idea of sports betting has been transformed from a taboo and ‘sub rosa’ vice into a major business opportunity. All the leagues have flipped positions to now embrace sports gambling that includes exclusive partnerships.”
Things indeed do change, but from up there in heaven, Paul Horning and Alex Karras must be trying to contact Tony Romo, asking, “Were we born too soon?”
