Well, It's that time again... almost. The SB is on Sunday, February 9th, 6:30 PM ET, carried on FOX. Here's how we got here... Some stat stuff... Last time the Eagles and Chiefs got together, the Eagles won, 21-17 on November 20th, 2023.
Commercials are still soaring upward... Via Mollie Callihane of Sports Business Journal, Fox has sold more than 10 spots for the game at more than $8 million each. Last year, 30-second spots during Super Bowl LVIII went for around $7 million. When Fox televised the game two years ago, the network generated $600 million at an average of $6.5 million each.
What product makes up the sales needed from a 30 second $7M ad? If everyone refused to pay the ridiculous amount... they could get down to about half that. They aren't as creative as they used to be either. I get it if you have a national campaign going and this is the end of the campaign and millions of people are watching to see it play out.. That's what it used to be all about. Has anyone seen a campaign talking about it culminating at the Super Bowl besides the Mannings kicking field goals? That's the only one that comes to mind.
From what I gleaned from a little reading, a handful of corporations have dropped out because of the investment, but on the other hand many wanted to jump in and are willing to pay the price for the exposure. The newer corps who entered are basically selling the same types of things... This article is in part from the, Sports Business Journal As is the case every year, some advertisers who bought early needed to come out of the game. Those units were resold at a much higher price, which helped Fox escalate its pricing much more quicky. Close to 10 advertisers dropped out, slightly higher than a typical year. Strong categories this year include beverages, telco, tech, travel, financial, auto, QSR and salty snacks, according to Fox Sports EVP/Ad Sales Mark Evans. Not many new categories are entering, and streaming and studios are down. “The movie business has changed so much coming out of COVID, how many bets do you make on a new title being released at such, quite frankly, a high price that the Super Bowl commands,” said Evans. Fox had pre-negotiated deals with advertisers who weren’t yet in the game, should inventory become available. “It's a very beneficial place to be in, if you're in our position, because these units obviously are significant expenditures. Once you buy it, you own it. There are no take-backs,” said Evans. Around 80-85% of inventory sold during the traditional upfront window through June. “What was unique to this Super Bowl, or this marketplace, was we had a lot more people that weren't in the game at all, all of a sudden be like, no, no, I have to get in the game,” added Evans. __________ Its all baffling to me and over the course of the past few years, I might see one or two commercials that were well done. It used to be something pretty entertaining, but its all a piss break and snack time for me now.
The Eagles and Chiefs have arrived in New Orleans The Eagles and Chiefs have both arrived in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon to kick off the run-up to Super Bowl LIX on February 9. The Eagles landed shortly before the back-to-back Super Bowl champs and both teams will now start settling into the hotels they’ll be calling home for the next week. Monday night will be the next time that we hear from the two teams as they take part in Opening Night at the Superdome. The Eagles will be the first team to meet the media at 8 p.m. ET and the Chiefs will follow them to the podiums. Practices for both teams will start on Wednesday. The Eagles will be using the Saints’ facilities while the Chiefs will hold their workouts at Tulane University. They’ll practice on Thursday and Friday as well and then both teams will lock things down until they hit the field on Super Bowl Sunday.
I will echo that for the record. I’ll also go against the grain and say the Chiefs defense does NOT have what it takes to stop the Eagles run game. Eagles give one last butt push into the end zone in the 4th qtr to go ahead by 10, the Chiefs March down the field for a TD to make it a 3 point game, but can’t recover an onside kick despite a 90 second referee huddle to try to give it to them. Eagles literally run out the clock after rushing for two more first downs. How’s that for descriptive?
If the Eagles jump ahead by a pair of scores early, they hang on and win by under a TD. If it’s even through 3 quarters, the Chiefs close out a close one. If the Chiefs score two quick TDs, the Eagles lose by 5 or more. Those are my 3 scenarios, and I’m leaning towards #3.
Randy Moss returns to ESPN on Sunday In November, Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss commenced a leave of absence from his ESPN duties, after being diagnosed with bile duct cancer. For the network’s Super Bowl pregame show, Moss will be back. Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Moss makes his return on Sunday morning from New Orleans for the show that begins at 10:00 a.m. ET. It’s great news for Moss, for his fans, and for anyone who has been touched directly or indirectly by the insidious disease. In December, Moss explained that he had a six-hour “Whipple” procedure, to be followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Moss vowed to return. And, for the final pregame show of the season on the biggest day of the year, Moss will be back. _______ ________________ Very good news. He's always been one of my favorite players in my lifetime. Coming out of Marshall, I never thought he'd be that good in the NFL even with his 2 years of ridiculously good stats AND land up being a Vikings great. Happy for him.
Still questions on DeVonta Smith's hamstring injury and if he can play (i suspect he will try like hell)... A.J. Brown and Jahan Dotson are expected to start alongside Smith if he is available. Should Smith miss this championship showdown, Parris Campbell is his projected backup.
Eagles' Brandon Graham activated from injured reserve for championship bout vs. Chiefs Philly's vet is back for the biggest game of the year after tearing his triceps in Week 12 "Man, I'm probably the happiest one BG is back," Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson said this week. "Everything he's been able to overcome, and he's been dominant for a long time. I'm excited he's back trash-talking us every day. I've probably heard the most." The former No. 13 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft has recored 76.5 sacks in 15 seasons with the Eagles. In 11 games played this year, Graham recorded 20 combined tackles, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble. In his final three games played before suffering the triceps injury, he notched 2.5 sacks.
Eagles’ 145 points in the playoffs were the most ever in one postseason With their 40-22 win at Super Bowl LIX, the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles finished a playoff run in which they scored more points than any team has ever scored in a postseason. The Eagles also beat the Packers 22-10 in the wild card round, the Rams 28-22 in the divisional round and the Commanders 55-23 in the NFC Championship Game to total 145 points in the playoffs, the most in NFL history. The previous record was set by the 1994 49ers, who scored 131 points during their postseason run. The Eagles’ average of 36.3 points per game in the playoffs does not break the per-game record set by those 49ers, who averaged 43.7 points per game during their three-game postseason run. The Eagles’ 145 points came from five touchdowns each from Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts, two from A.J. Brown and one each from Cooper DeJean, Jahan Dotson, Dallas Goedert, Will Shipley and DeVonta Smith. They also got 10 field goals and 13 extra points from Jake Elliott. PFT/Smith
