The Super Bowl is a cartoonish vision of Western culture, but it works

Ahead of the big game, America’s new favorite mom went on TV to talk about the Super Bowl.

We got to know Donna Kelsey from her friendship with Taylor Swift in the NFL’s luxury box. Swift brings charm.Kelce only Bring family values. This is a marketing combination that crosses the line between blue and red.

The campaign stalled before the Super Bowl. Donna Kelce may lose her place in Swift’s courtiers and simply be forced to watch games among the rich.

“As far as I know, I’m in the stands with the other players because this is an expensive Super Bowl,” Kelce told NBC. today show.

The median price of a Super Bowl ticket on the secondary market is $10,000. Certainly “everyone else”.

Only in America can a woman with a child who earned a total of $25 million this year appear on TV and cry with a straight face. The Super Bowl is truly for all kinds of people.

This is the last event where Americans of all stripes can see themselves or someone who looks like them. For example, Donna’s son Travis pays Pfizer. His All-Pro teammate Harrison Butker has not been vaccinated because he is a “child of God.”

If these two worked in places where cultural interest is on the decline, like a podcast company or a public theater, they’d probably end up carpet bombing each other on X/Twitter. But Kelce and Butker are working in the last cultural growth industry. There is room for all kinds of ideas in the world of football, as long as they don’t insult the crown.

Those who predicted this game to be disappearing from under their feet a decade ago never understood its true appeal. It’s not violence. It’s not even a sport. That football is America’s last safe haven. You can say anything there and no one cares. As long as you’re good and don’t cross a big, bright line.

This is why Swift’s intrusion into the game caused panic in some areas. No one cared that she was a dilettante or that she used sports to maximize her influence. It represents all fans of all sports.

What worried people was the possibility that Swift’s gravity would distort the boundaries of this demilitarized zone of American politics. So far, so good on that score. Like everyone else, Swift seems content to embrace football’s ‘freaks welcome’ hippie ethos.

The story of the sports world in recent years has been the invasion of the real world into fantasyland. Sports once influenced culture. It now works in reverse. Something bad happens and everyone wants to know what the backup point guard thinks about it.

At the beginning of this new era of consciousness, many players and coaches were happy to share their raw thoughts on everything from gun control to federal elections and everything in between. Then the blowback started. Now they can’t run away fast enough because the fans are chasing them.

Next time, this is a good rule of thumb. The desire to be seen as relevant is the easiest path to irrelevance.

Football escaped this trap. If someone flips on a political fault line, he or she is excluded from the herd. Everyone else got the message: “Say whatever you want, but everything you say is on you.” That’s the beauty of running a sport where anyone can unsubscribe from any team at any time, and that often happened.

As the NFL continues to lap its competitors, football itself becomes less and less important. Unlike baseball or hockey, football does not rely on matchups. A big game doesn’t need two top 10 markets to generate interest. All we need is a time and a place, and we know America will show up.

Last year’s Super Bowl was the most-watched television show in U.S. history. This year’s iteration is sure to be even bigger, as we’re hooked on Swift’s Santa Claus routine from the Japanese show to the game. American viewership is 120 million or 125 million, which is probably an underestimate. How many of them are seriously invested in a particular outcome? Maybe only a few.

This is what true cultural power looks like.what’s this Romeo and Juliet or i love lucy had. This has created a virtual gathering space that is so popular and so welcoming that everyone not only feels the need to participate, but also finds it very easy to do so. Two underprivileged lovers, a chocolate-chomping woman who can’t keep up with her job, and big men who clash.what does that say about us as a society? there is nothing. That’s the appeal.

But let’s say you don’t like soccer. What about the halftime act? do you like them? they got it. Can’t afford tickets to the game? Okay, could you please go to the parking lot in advance? Because there’s a party there too.

Are you worried about joining an ideological program or appearing to take a political side? Great news. The NFL doesn’t do that. The only argument in favor of it is the old American vision of everyone getting along and expressing their satisfaction by buying things.

It’s a big, strict family where angry uncles are just as welcome as easily offended college students. How does the NFL bridge the gap between generations and beliefs? By never talking about it.

Shouldn’t we consider doing that? No, if that’s the case, you might want to consider getting out of the NFL house once and for all.

Americans are now so accustomed to football that the Super Bowl itself is no longer needed. Think back to a recent encounter. The action is blurry. It’s reduced to single player at best. Either David Tyree grabs the helmet or Seattle opts for a fourth pass and goal.

Everyone remembers the halftime act, at least a few commercials, and Gisele freaking out when Tom lost to the Giants. But most of them remember the warm feeling of getting together with friends, guzzling carbs, getting drunk all day, and yelling at each other about plays they only half understood. It’s a cartoonish vision of Western culture. And it works.

Kansas City by 6 o’clock.