First, I’d like to give a shoutout to Shiv for making the event so comfortable and casual. The entire environment was not intimidating at all and it was easy for me to communicate with my fellow rose scholars. Above all, the event was interesting! Instead of lecturing us, Shiv really cared about our own wanting to enjoy the super bowl and learn whatever we wanted. His packet of information about gambling and the marketing schemes behind the Super Bowl were really interesting; me and him even talked about the odds for the game. By the end of the event, he had converted me to a Giants fan!

I was never a die hard football fan, but I do enjoy watching and knew the fundamental rules and strategies of the sport. What I didn’t know is how much the sport had diverged from its athletic roots and become a market ploy when it comes to the Super Bowl. Of course, the game at the end of the day is about which team won or lost, but what about all of the team sponsors? Who makes the members perform so well? Money. Companies give hefty amounts of money to put their logo on just a small corner of a quarterback’s uniform. The commercials that play in between the Super Bowl have been thought about for months, probably even years. Football is not alone when it comes to the marketing world, as all other sports have their share in being “sold out” to big businesses. This event was really eye opening!