10 SUPER BOWL (& MORE) THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – SUPER BOWL LVIIII: These are the easy columns to write. So much has gone on here in Sin City over the past week so cobbling it into a column for you is as much FUN as it is work. And of course the big crescendo of it all is Sunday’s NFL championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium (6:30 pm ET, CBS). The oddsmakers at our official betting partner Bet Regal have held strong, maintaining the 49ers as 2-point favourites for the match. That’s a head-scratcher for me. The pundits say “Never bet against Mahomes”, but then they advise it. And they’re always disappointed! Take the Chiefs straight-up.

2 – FIELDS OF DREAMS: It’s the opposite of the iconic 1989 Kevin Costner flick Field of Dreams where the saying “If you build it, they will come” became a mantra for the sports industry. In Las Vegas it’s actually “If you come, they will build it.” First it was the NHL and the glitzy T-Mobile Arena – home of the Golden Knights – opening its doors on April 6, 2016. Then the NFL’s Raiders moved from Oakland to Vegas in 2020, and the brand new Allegiant Stadium. And now, MLB’s Oakland A’s plan to move to Sin City and a new retractable roof stadium is to be built where the Tropicana stands now, on the SE corner of Las Vegas Blvd & Tropicana Avenue. If you come, they will build it.

3 – GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: My Super Bowl Week started bright and early on Wednesday, boarding a direct flight from Miami to Las Vegas. The departure gate at MIA was teeming with every entertainer, circus freak, professional gambler and musician heading to Super Bowl representing every farmhouse, henhouse & outhouse for hundreds, or even thousands of miles in the Southeast. That familiar voice in my head whispered, “YOUR PEOPLE!” I realized I was one of them, and the games began.

4 – FUN FACTS: Here are a few for Super Bowl 58 – 1) An estimated 17.5-million Canadians will tune in for the game. That’s almost 50% of the country. 2) 1.8-billion chicken wings are expected to be consumed by Americans tuned in for the Super Bowl. Chicken Farmers of Canada project 84-million wings will be ingested in the Great White North on Super Bowl Sunday. 3) Want to purchase a 30 second ad on the TV broadcast? It’ll run you $7-milliion. 4) The average ticket price for the inaugural Super Bowl in 1967 was $6. This year’s ticket prices range between $5,700-$25,000. 5) Players on the winning team will get a cheque for $157,000. The losing team players get $82,000. 6) The economic spinoff for Las Vegas this week is expected to be $700,000,000 US.

5 – CELEBS: Thank God for good friends. Two years ago at Super Bowl in L.A. – when we were broadcasting from the Westin LAX with live guests Jarret Stoll, Daved Benefield, Dan Moriarty, Cam Judge, Mo Egger & more – our media pals said we MUST be on Radio Row for all future Super Bowl broadcasts. So we did this year, and it was terrific! Viewers said they enjoyed the “inside look” at Super Bowl of what was going on over my shoulder, and enjoyed the impromptu moments like Denver Broncos LB Alex Singleton crashing our set. Some of the big names who strode through included Flavor Flav, Joe Montana, Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb, Emmitt Smith, Pat McAfee of course, Rob Gronkowski, Dan Marino, Steve Young, and the list goes on. Next year in New Orleans I’ll have a much better feel for how to go about things.

6 – VEGAS BORN: Not surprisingly there has been A LOT of talk about the Golden Knights during the week, even though they’re out of town. The VGK capped their pre-Super Bowl home schedule with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday before hitting the road. That snapped the Oilers’ 16-game win streak and prevented Edmonton from making history. I had Oiler fan friends who came down to “Watch the Oilers make history” but went home disappointed. Oh well! The Golden Knights have been kings pretty much since they came into the NHL in 2016 and the narrative is becoming, “Oh wait till they’re not any good and we’ll see how much of a fanbase they have!” You see, you just don’t get it. With GM Kelly McCrimmon in charge, they will always be good. I’ve seen/suffered it firsthand as a rival.

7 – LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS: I’ve been waiting since October to interview USA Football CEO Scott Hallenbeck about Flag Football being included in the 2028 L.A. Summer Games and NFL players – like Dolphins star Tyreek Hill – wanting to represent the USA. Last July in Charlotte, NC at the USA Football national Flag championships, I called the games on Olympic Network and USAFootball.com and got to know Scott real well. His answer to my question on Thursday on the RP Show is that NFL players will have the opportunity to tryout just like all the current national team members have done. If they’re able to participate in the regional, then national camps, and are the best players, they’ll make the team. Hallenbeck continued that the USA wants to win gold so therefore they want the best players. Sounds pretty fair doesn’t it? The only problem is being an NFL player has become a 12-month job and attending those camps, I feel, would be almost impossible.

To be frank, Scott said the door is likely open for CFL players to represent Canada due to their off-season schedules and we think that would be a MAJOR BOON for CFL marketing. Could you imagine? Football Canada President Jim Mullin has hinted he’d be in favour of this. Who would makeup Team Canada? If Nathan Rourke isn’t in the NFL by then, I’d choose him as the QB. Others who come to mind are WR Dejon Brissett, RB Brady Oliveira, DB Stavros Katsontonis, RB Sean Thomas-Erlington, LB Micah Teitz, DL Mathieu Betts and LB Cam Judge.

**PS: It was in Charlotte when USA Football officials asked me to be the Voice of all their national championships across America moving forward. The answer was YES!

8 – CFL: Of course you came here for the CFL talk. We’ll always have that; sometimes more, sometimes less. For one, the actual “football people” here at Super Bowl wondered why this CFL pre-Free Agency Week would be lined up against Super Bowl Week; the biggest sports event of the year in the world. Uh, I dunno about that one. Hopefully some more planning will go into this in 2025. For two, always, people are going to compare Grey Cup Week versus Super Bowl Week because they always have but as of now, there is no comparison. However there have been B.C. Lions people here in Las Vegas – I’ve seen them – and they tell me Lions owner Amar Doman wants to make the 2024 Vancouver Grey Cup as absolutely gigantic as possible and is as much about THE SHOW as he is about THE GAME. The RP Show, and me personally, are more than happy to offer any and all promotional abilities we may have in order to make that happen. I love the CFL and would love to see it get back to the glory days. I think it could happen.

9 – BELL MEDIA: The axe swung again this week in the Canadian media, with 4,800 layoffs announced by Bell Media/CTV/TSN. I saw a list of the biggest names affected, with their smiling photos lined up side-by-side, and initially I felt a pang of sympathy. But then that same voice in my head shouted, “NOBODY DIED!” Let’s get ahold of ourselves here. People lose their jobs everyday across the land but when it happens in the media, everybody loses their marbles. Perhaps I’ve become desensitized due to my dual career as a Recovery Coach (Mental Health/Addiction/Grief/Trauma & Stress Management) but if you can truly believe that everything happens for a reason, things can be a lot easier to swallow. Losing my last job in Sask was the best thing that ever happened to me. It just took me awhile to realize it. The same will be true for these folks.

As for the future of the media and whether it’s a viable business or not, you’re here aren’t you? If the product’s good, you can sell it.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Ridly Greig didn’t do anything wrong, nor did Morgan Rielly. … Ever had a cabbie say, “I’m not taking you there. The traffic’s too bad!” This week, I did. … The best Watch Party for the big game in Las Vegas is Sober Bowl at the Clark County Amphitheater! I’ll be hosting the event and for just $20 you can enjoy a full day of entertainment including bands, comedians, NFL personalities, food trucks and more. You can get tickets at the door. … Hosting big events is what I like to do the most at this stage of my career. …. While out for supper at my favourite Vegas steakhouse Vic & Anthony’s this week, the server said, “Be sure to talk up our new football stadium on your show because it took millions of tax dollars to build it!” I leaned over and said, “Bro … I wouldn’t be here giving YOU my money if it wasn’t for that stadium so zip it.” … I have a real problem biting my lip when someone deserves a zinger. Maybe one day I’ll be able to. … The relationship between Peyton & Eli Manning is very typical of older/younger siblings. Peyton never lets Eli talk. … What did the receiver say to the football? “Catch you later!” … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen