Review by NatalieElse

Sports today have transcended beyond the idea of just being a game—they have completely transformed into media and entertainment spectacles. With every eye-catching halftime show, March Madness bracket and big-shot athlete, the line between entertainment and sports becomes more and more blurred. 

The Super Bowl can be defined as a national sensation strictly because of the spectacles surrounding the game itself which include the halftime show, the commercials, celebrity appearances and the overall animated atmosphere.

Take this year’s Super Bowl, for example. Super Bowl LIX had all kinds of people glued to their seats—including hardcore football fans, Swifties, commercial lovers and of course, people tuned in to see a glimpse of the ongoing feud between music artists Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

As someone who does not particularly care for the sweat, grit and passion of the actual game, the Super Bowl still had me hooked as I was tuned into the entertainment aspects. 

A commercial that stood out to me was the RAM commercial, which featured actor Glen Powell as a more “rugged, woodsy” Goldilocks who instead of wanting nice porridge, wanted RAM trucks, which proceeded to take him on wild adventures. While this commercial played into the typical humorous nature of Super Bowl commercials, Nike left many women, including myself, feeling empowered with their commercial. Featuring female athletes like Caitlin Clark, Sha’Carri Richardson and A’Ja Wilson, Nike made a powerful statement about women’s sports that proved to girls everywhere that no matter what people say, winning is always possible. 

Many spectators of the Super Bowl watch only for the commercials, which helps bring in a lot of viewers like me who do not necessarily love football. The commercials being broadcast at such a large-scale event help create revenue for a lot of brands as well. 

The halftime show is one of the most, if not, the most, important part of the Super Bowl as millions of people tune in annually to watch. Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance was highly anticipated by many fans just waiting to scream “tryna strike a chord and it’s probably a minor,” a lyric from Lamar’s song “Not Like Us” that has become the staple line of the song due to its direct diss on Drake. Lamar kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the entire performance as he kept teasing the song. When it finally came, it concluded his performance perfectly, leaving fans more than satisfied. 

Lamar’s halftime performance was undoubtedly one of the most profound shows ever because of its ability to transcend beyond music and make a political statement regarding race and American identity. By incorporating aspects like a human-formed American flag and characters like Uncle Sam, played by Samuel L. Jackson, Lamar hinted at “societal critique of Black expression as well as the relationship between America and marginalized communities” as reported by Selina Rashid Khan for PR News Online.

 As the Super Bowl took place on Feb. 9, basketball is now on the rise with the start of March Madness. March Madness is the name used for the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division 1’s men’s and women’s college basketball championships. 68 teams compete in this single-elimination tournament. 

What makes March Madness so special and universal for everyone are the brackets that the teams are placed in. These brackets, which are filled out by millions of people each year, are used to predict the winners of each game all the way to the national championship. 

Each year, every member of my family fills out a March Madness bracket, no matter how little or how much we know about college basketball. The winner in my family gets to pick a place that we go to for dinner, but in some families, there are much higher stakes that can include money. Although basketball is at the center of March Madness, the fun of the game comes from the brackets which contribute to the overall entertainment value. 

Events like the Super Bowl and March Madness will always bring in devoted sports fans who truly love the game for what it is, but it is important to not forget how the entertainment aspects of these games influence viewership as well. Football and basketball have never been my favorite sports to watch, but all that surrounds the game—commercials, celebrities and community—keep me coming back for more.