Esther: Welcome back to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld –

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: And we are back with a fabulous sporty segment three. We're gonna talk all about the business of the Superbowl.

Katie: I love it. So it's kinda like we're goin' Sporty Spice this week, you know? (Laughter)

Esther: That's – absolutely. Completely un-Superbowl related but yes. Just like Sporty Spice and actually the Superbowl is about to happen. You know it's comin' up.

Katie: It is.

Esther: And did you know that nearly 100 million people watch the Superbowl every year? In fact, no less than 80 million have watched it in the last 20 years.

Katie: No kidding?

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: And is this actually the whole way through or can they tell who mutes it during the game and then sticks around to watch the commercials?

Esther: The commercials? You know, I don't know if they've got statistics on that but they're – I, you know if all people are watching is the commercials, then advertisers are happy.

Katie: Okay. Right, hey. (Laughter)

Esther: You know? They're probably okay with that. Maybe not the ones – not the product placement people but the ones who are paying the big bucks to advertise.

Katie: Big. Hundreds of millions, yeah.

Esther: Yeah. So people forget, also, that it's not just the ads that are big business, it's the merchandising and then the magazines that get sold. All those commemorative merchandise, like the Sports Illustrated, the books that come out talking about the game and the newspapers the next day. People buy like several copies and they save them.

Katie: That's right.

Esther: You know, food, beer, restaurants and bars, obviously, like we talked about, kind of everyone benefitting from this big, gigantic –

Katie: It's huge.

Esther: - game.

Katie: And not –

Esther: It's no – it's gigantic.

Katie: - not to mention the city that actually gets to host it. I mean, like that is just crazy. I remember – when was it that Houston had the Superbowl here?

Esther: Ah, 2004.

Katie: Okay. I mean that was just a heck of an insane time. (Laughter)

Esther: Yes it was.

Katie: There were so many Brad Pitt sightings, it was awesome!

(Laughter)

Esther: And you know what else is a major industry? Let's not forget about the gambling.

Katie: The gambling. Yes, yes.

Esther: Guess how much money was spent betting on the Superbowl last year?

Katie: How much?

Esther: Ten billion dollars.

Katie: Oh!

(Laughter)

Esther: Ten billion!

Katie: That's intense.

Esther: Not million. Ten billion dollars.

Katie: With a B. With a B. (Laughter)

Esther: That's insane. You people are crazy. Stop gambling. Oh my gosh.

Katie: That's right. Start investing in your local entrepreneurs. Come on. (Laughter)

Esther: Seriously. Another big winner in the Superbowl is Disney because a lot of times after the game the quarterback says, "I'm going to Disneyworld!" and then they go.

Katie: Wow.

Esther: Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Katie: That is really cool.

Esther: It's very cool. Actually Springsteen said it last year, too, after his performance. He said, "I'm goin' to Disneyworld." That's just part – something people say now, after they win the – "What are you gonna do now?" "I'm goin' to Disneyworld."

Katie: Ahh! (Laughter)

Esther: So, well. Actually, I love the Superbowl because of all the gimmicks, all the awesome stuff that goes on. Remember there was that guy who tried to raise money from all these corporate companies to buy a 30 second spot.

Katie: That's right.

Esther: To propose to his girlfriend?

Katie: That's right! Yes. Yeah.

Esther: That was a coup- I think 2007 is when that was, that didn't actually end up happening.

Katie: Aww.

Esther: He couldn't raise the money. I think he was very disappointed.

Katie: Okay. Yeah.

Esther: But -

Katie: Well I guess that's what YouTube is for.

Esther: And then there was the one second Miller High Life commercial. Do you remember that? They couldn't afford –

Katie: (Laughter) Yes I do.

Esther: - anything else so they did a one second – it was like, "Beer" or something. And just flashed on the screen for a second and said "Beer" I think and that was it. But great gimmick. Here we are talking about it.

Katie: Exactly. Exactly.

Esther: You know? So what are your favorite Superbowl commercials? Do you have any favorites?

Katie: This may be just totally cliché but I still love the Budweiser frogs.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: I mean that is –

Esther: That's a classic.

Katie: Like – yeah. Just hands down absolutely my favorite. Absolutely.

Esther: That's a great one.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: You know, actually I always loved the CareerBuilder commercials. I've always loved their commercials. They have the people fighting in the forest. The guy's wearing like a binder on his head.

Katie: That is right.

Esther: Those are great commercials but actually they had – Monster also has a great commercial that they did. This was – remember? It was a really big deal when Monster had their first Superbowl commercial 'cause they were this new company, very small, spending a ton of money on advertising.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: And one of their commercials was just phenomenal. They featured these little kids talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up and they were saying, "I wanna be a brown-noser."

Katie: Oh, I remember! (Laughter)

Esther: And it was like, "I wanna be forced into early retirement."

Katie: That's right. "I wanna climb the corporate ladder and fall and hit the glass ceiling." (Laughter)

Esther: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Very cute. "I wanna claw my way up to middle management." And that's one of my favorites. It's kind of, you know, it's definitely up there. And my – really my all-time favorite is the Larry Bird, Michael Jordan commercial.

Katie: Which one is that? I don't remember.

Esther: Where they play a game of Horse and the winner gets a Big Mac and some fries and it gave us this classic phrase. "Over the second rafter, off the floor, nothin' but net."

Katie: That's awesome.

Esther: So anytime you hear someone saying "Nothin' but net," it's from that Superbowl commercial.

Katie: No kidding?

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: That's where it comes from.

Katie: I thought this was like a standard basketball –

Esther: Well it is but that's kind of what re-popularized it.

Katie: Okay. That's what got it hot. (Laughter)

Esther: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Katie: So something that I've always been fascinated by is – I mean what happens whenever the team loses and they've printed up these tens of thousands of shirts and hats – where do they go?

Esther: I don't know. Graveyard.

Katie: In the sports inferno.

Esther: Sports inferno, probably. Actually, sometimes a few of 'em get out. Sometimes they get – you'll see someone wearing a Superbowl shirt for a team that didn't win the Superbowl and it's because they obviously have to print all of the stuff and create all of the stuff ahead of time, be ready.

Katie: To be ready. Exactly.

Esther: Because they hand out the hats at the end and the t-shirts and the towels and all that kinda stuff.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: So, I don't know.

Katie: Well and I know so – and actually I was totally asking a question I knew the answer to. So –

Esther: Oh.

Katie: - how lame is that? See –

Esther: Oh good. So tell me.

Katie: I know so little about sports I want to contribute something here.

Esther: Please.

Katie: So apparently there's a number of non-profits, one is actually called World Vision Service, that do nothing but collect all of these pieces of sports memorabilia for events that never actually happened, like winning.

Esther: Oh my gosh!

Katie: And they send 'em over to Ethiopia, to all these third-world countries, that desperately need –

Esther: No way!

Katie: - clothing and hats and whatever they can get their hands on but the rule is the NFL is very, very strict on this, that none of those items are ever to show up on American soil. So nothing on EBay, nothing, you know, being sold from a funny website. Like it all is to go overseas and so there's all of these stories online where people are out doing mission work where they see these kids in, you know, Nigeria, you know, that have these Superbowl t-shirts on for, you know, completely factually incorrect winners. (Laughter)

Esther: That's very awesome.

Katie: And at first they were very confused but they're like, "Hey, they got a shirt so whatever."

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: They need it! (Laughter)

Esther: That is great. What a great cause.

Katie: Exactly. Exactly. So –

Esther: Do you have any all-time worst Superbowl commercials that you just absolutely hate? No? Lemme tell you about some of mine.

Katie: I don't. (Laughter)

Esther: I'll tell you, I'll tell you this one. You might remember this, you might not.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: There's a commercial – it was for Just For Feet, a company that no longer exists, okay? It was called Kenya Mission. That was the name of the commercial. It featured a Kenyan runner being drugged by a group of white mercenaries in a Humvee and forced to wear running shoes. He was running alongside the Humvee barefoot because a lot of Kenyan runners run barefoot.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: And the men in the Humvee grab him, they drug him, and then they force running shoes on his feet. So the ad was basically panned by every possible source –

Katie: Oh my gosh!

Esther: - you know, called imperialist, racist, every –ist you could ever imagine.

Katie: Seriously!

Esther: And actually Just For Feet ended up suing their agency of record, Saatchi & Saatchi.

Katie: Which is enormous.

Esther: Yes. Saying that the agency didn't actually listen to them when they said, "No, this ad isn't gonna work," and the agency insisted that it was.

Katie: Oh come on.

Esther: So eventually Just For Feet went bankrupt.

Katie: Oh come on.

Esther: They are n- they're no longer in business and I don't know if that's why but it was around the same time that this all was happening, so –

Katie: Well that can't help, you know, like a company image.

Esther: Can you imagine? Well hopefully, this year's gonna bring us some really awesome Superbowl commercials. I cannot wait.

Katie: I'm very excited.

Esther: I loved – I love football. I love to watch the game but I also love the commercials.

Katie: and I love the food and the commercials and I'll stand the football. So you know - (Laughter) maybe you can call me on your cell phone, explain what's happening on the field to me. Like –

Esther: Like what's a forward pass?

Katie: (Laughter)

Esther: That's called a touchdown.

Katie: It – they – no home runs? What's going on? I – (Laughter) I am a pathetic creature.

Esther: No, no. Don't you worry. The commercials are gonna entertain you severely.

Katie: Yes, exactly. (Laughter)

Esther: And with that, we hope you enjoy the Superbowl coming up. Hope your team wins and if your team's not in it, like ours, our poor Texans – then better luck next year.

Katie: Exactly. Exactly.

Esther: And with that, we'll leave you.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: If you wanna get in touch with us, you can at twitter.com/overtimeshow. You can also get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/thebusinessmakers and of course, of course, leave us comments on our website at thebusinessmakers.com/overtime.

Katie: We love it.

Esther: Please do get in touch with us. We wanna hear all about what's goin' on in your business world.

Katie: Exactly. Share those game plays, is that something football related?

(Laughter)

John: It's a touchgoal!

Katie: A touchgoal. Oh. Hatemail's comin'. I can feel it. Just kidding.

(Laughter)

Esther: That's why we're a business show.

Katie: That's right! (Laughter)

Esther: We don't have to know about sports. You've been listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld –

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: - and we'll be right back with you next week.

Katie: See you then.