We’re allowed to call it the Super Bowl except for when we’re not.
There’s a radio commercial that has been airing in my area that, I kid you not, refers to this Sunday’s Super Bowl LV match-up between the Buccaneers and Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium as the Finale.
In terms of originality, that’s rather refreshing. It’s certainly a nice departure from the Big Game, which is what most radio and TV ads call the Super Bowl in the weeks leading up to it. On occasion, the Black and Gold will make it to the Big Game, and you can go to a local establishment and join former professional Pittsburgh football player, Loooooouuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!, as he watches his old team take on the Arizona professional football squad.
What other names can we call the Super Bowl without running into any pesky copyright infringements? How about the Last Dance? No, Michael Jordan might sue. What about the Season Finale? That’s not taken, right? The Final Chapter is universal, isn’t it? How about the Professional Football Climax? That’s rather naughty—I like it.
Seriously, why can folks refer to the Super Bowl as the Super Bowl during most times of the year except for right before it’s played and they’re trying to sell stuff and get people to come to their establishments to watch it? I get that the name “Super Bowl” is a literal property of the National Football League, but is it really? Doesn’t the Super Bowl belong to all of us? Doesn’t it belong to America? Doesn’t it belong to the world?
If you’re a lawyer, you might say it doesn’t, but if you’re a fan of the NFL, you might say that it does.
Would the NFL really be losing out on any serious revenue if some guy named Al used the actual name of the Big Game to get some folks to come to his bar in Aspinwall?
Whether Al calls it the Big Game, the Resolution or the actual Super Bowl, people know what he means. Why are you being so serious about it, NFL?
It’s just like with those old network telecasts of NFL games I always watch on YouTube. For example, right before this writing, I watched the first half of the Steelers 2009 clash with the Packers at Heinz Field that included the epic game-winning touchdown catch by Mike Wallace with no time remaining. Will that game still be on YouTube by the time I sit down to watch the second half, or will you make it disappear before I get the chance to?
Come on, NFL, give us a break. You have us right in the palm of your hand. When you ask us to jump, we hope that our vertical will be high enough to get drafted in the top three rounds.
You make so much money off of us as it is. What are we going to do with the name “Super Bowl” that will cause you to make less of it?
Finally, if the NFL is going to do all that it can to make sure we never forget the name “Super Bowl,” the least it can do is let us say it when we want to sell some carpets.
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