Conspiracy theories amuse me.
Isn’t it easy to look at a series of historical events and identify patterns?
Isn’t it even easier to associate those patterns with a group of anonymous people who seemingly want to control us?

Super Bowl LI, in 2017, was the greatest game NFL game ever.
Tom Brady and his New England Patriots came back from a 28-3 deficit in the fourth quarter to win the game.
In 15 minutes, Tommy Terrific made the game great.
My gut says that it was too great.

There was a time when the Super Bowl was referred to as the Superbore.

Mysteriously enough, the game has evolved. It has gotten closer. The game seems to be decided in the fourth quarter.

This year, the four games to decide who went the AFC and NFC championship games were all decided in the final seconds of the game.

Greatest games ever.
The NFL is amazing. It’s so much fun to watch.

Maybe too much fun.
The only thing they didn’t have was Hulk Hogan lifting his finger in defiance of defeat.

The purists hate this idea and will want to string me up.
I get it. Hear me out.

This year’s Super Bowl is going to cost advertisers $7 million for 30 seconds of airtime.

Imagine dropping seven large ones when the game is no longer interesting.
Audience numbers dwindle.
Interest fades.
Channels get changed.
As an advertiser, you might feel ripped off.

Again, advertisers pay more at the front end of the game than the end. But stick with me.

When lil Johnny is playing football, he’s playing a sport. He’s an athlete.
When lil Johnny goes professional. It’s still athleticism. But it becomes a business.
Lil Johnny develops his personal brand, so he can make bank outside of his god-given talent.
Business is money, customers, and entertainment.

Entertain someone and they’ll give you their attention.

The perfect example of athleticism versus business is the Olympics. The Beijing Winter Olympics cost $3.9 billion to China, yet “amateur” athletes compete with the hopes of winning a shiny medal.
Sounds like grade five track and field all over again…

With the exception of steroid complaints, the Olympics are seen as pure.

Until 1992, professionals weren’t allowed to compete at the Olympics. The United States was tired of losing basketball games to Argentina and Spain, so the rules were changed to allow for Dream Teams.

Professional sports now revolve around storylines created by players, owners, networks, and leagues.
Business is about stories.
They glue us to the game and keep us wanting more.

The story emotionally mesmerizes us.

I prefer a Greatest Game Ever over a Superbore. It’s a better spend of my time.
But too many Super Bowls with too many “best catches” ever makes me wonder if the game is more about business than sport.

It can’t always be better than the year before. Can it?

Regardless of conspiracy theories, the formula professional sports use to pull in fans is repeatable for any business, including yours.

Telling stories is simple but not easy.

It requires character development, weakness, storyline, villains, heroes, victims, and emotional triggers (both good and bad).

If your stories are not creating emotions within your audience, you might be telling a documentary.

Documentaries can be interesting, but they also help me sleep.
I wouldn’t dare do that in the 4th quarter of the Big Game.

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