Five Super Bowl Myths

The Super Bowl is like America, writes Michael MacCambridge in the Washington Post—"big, convivial, gaudy, passionate and, surely, self-important." But as popular as the Super Bowl is, there are five big myths about the big game:

• It's the world's most-watched sports event. Nope, just America's. Last year's Super Bowl was the most-watched program in US television history, with 153 million viewers—a mere shadow of the 700 million who watched last year's World Cup final. For the rest of the globe, football pales in comparison to, well, football.

• The game is usually bad. OK, for the first couple of decades, the Super Bowl was usually a super-rout. But the salary cap and free agency have created an age of parity in the NFL, leading to more competitive Super Bowls. In fact, five of the last nine championships were decided by less than five points.
  
• The crowd is all corporate and dull. Thanks to the Internet, real fans can easily score tickets to the big game (if they have the dough). And more real fans means more boisterous crowds.

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