Yea, we know, we know. The Super Bowl is fast approaching. The 50th edition sees the Broncos taking on the Panthers. Past (Manning) versus the Future (Newton). Tennessee vs. Auburn. NFL’s Golden Boy vs. NFL’s Polarizing Boy. But this article is not about the Super Bowl---it’s about all the hoopla leading up to the Super Bowl.
Per tradition, there are two weeks between the championship games and the Super Bowl in order to build the hype, build the anticipation, and so that all the bets in Vegas are settled and ready to go. It is a lot of momentum that cumulates in a weekend purely and wholly dominated by football. The NFL reigns supreme not because of quality, but because of the ease of access and how easy it becomes to pick sides. But that’s for another article, we are discussing how as a competing league the NBA can hack into some of the Super Bowl glory.
I call it the Appetizer Game. Basically, The Big Game Before the Big Game.
See, because the NFL loves planning ahead we have the next couple Super Bowls figured out in terms of city and stadium. This year the Golden Game is in Santa Clara. 2017 belongs to Houston, and 2018 belongs to Minneapolis. Want to know what they all have in common? They all have basketball teams close by, which means basketball arenas within the vicinity of where the Super Bowl is being held. How ballsy would it be if the NBA every year would pit a huge basketball game at some point before the Super Bowl to nab some of the attention and some of the press already in town?
Now, what should the game be? Very easy: take the two teams that competed in the previous NBA Finals and have them play their first rematch. Take 2016 Super Bowl: the Appetizer Game would have been the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in whether the soccer-friendly Buck Shaw Stadium (is outdoor NBA game still out of the question?) or the much smaller Leavey Center. New location, new chance to draw fans in, and good way to enter the realm of Super Bowl territory while still promoting your league.
This is all manageable because the way the playoff format is, it’s guaranteed that the next season the two squads in the NBA Finals will play each other just twice. The winner gets the home game, as the other game will be held on wherever the Super Bowl is being held at (ONLY places where Super Bowl location doesn’t have basketball team: Tampa and San Diego). Ticket sales are easier, they don’t go on sale for the upcoming year until the day after it is determined which teams actually make the Finals. That way, we can cut down on people just buying the tickets to resell them to hungry fans. I will even take it a step further: on the first day they are only available to fans within the county of both participants. You’re welcome.
Let’s use the 2017 example. Houston Rockets’ Toyota Center will host the Appetizer Game on the Friday before the Super Bowl---with at least 7 months of hype since the Finals had finished far back in June and we purposely don’t schedule their rematch until this very day. The logo in the center of the court will be the logo of the NBA champion from the end of this season-----
(Let’s just assume right now it’s the Golden State Warriors, considering how amazing they are playing right now)
Of course it will be televised, and will get all the Disney/ABC/ESPN press since the House of Mouse is no longer interested in doing Super Bowl telecasts. So 6 months of hype, crashing the party of the superior sports league, two nearly guaranteed two big teams playing each other (16 of 30 NBA teams make playoffs, and very rarely does a NBA Finals Champ/Runner-Up fall off the very next year barring injury), and building a fanbase in another city or another region entirely. It may not be the most economically friendly plan, but it’s definitely one that will draw attention year in and year out.
I believe in the power and the potential insanity of the attention-grabbing Appetizer Game.
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