BY EVAN WEINER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
Here is a rather large understatement. The Super Bowl is a big deal in America. It is more than a game; political movements including the passage of the Martin Luther King holiday in Arizona and changes in radio and TV indecency laws can be directly traced to the Super Bowl.
Even though Super Bowl weekend is not officially acknowledged as a national holiday, it is indeed a de facto holiday with an economic impact on virtually every community in the country because of parties. It is also the biggest betting day of the year both legally and illegally. Super Bowl TV ads are rated for likeability by viewers.
The East Rutherford, New Jersey-based New York Giants will be playing in the big game. But do Giants fans really want to know about the business of the big game?
The answer is no. They care only about the Giants winning but Indianapolis, like many other cities and states, is a government partner of sports. Without tax dollars, there is no Indianapolis Super Bowl. Without tax dollars there may be no new East Rutherford Giants-Jets stadium either.
