The Billion Dollar Game: Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Day In American Sport - Super Bowl Sunday

by Allen St. John

A fascinating portrait of the National Football League, the Super Bowl, and all the position players who come together to create the biggest cultural phenomenon in American sports.
 
Think the Super Bowl is only about two teams of titans clashing on the field? Think again. The Super Bowl is about fans, hundreds of millions of fans. It’s about money, more money than the GDP of twenty-five sovereign nations. It’s about precision, the timing of everything from the notorious commercials to the epic halftime show. And it’s about the vision and skill of designing a state-of-the-art stadium to house the great show. Here, Allen St. John reveals how America’s biggest sporting event is more than just a couple hours on a it’s a high stakes, real-life dramatic story, with millions of participants all hoping for the same thing—the greatest game ever.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Football

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2008

Reviews

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 3 out of 5]

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “DETAILED BEHIND THE SCENES STAGING OF A SUPER BOWL.”
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This book provides an intricate detailed look at what takes place for literally years in advance… and up to the actual game itself. Ninety-eight percent of this book entails… architects… city bids… hotels… security… parties (Planning more than the partying.)… camera men… announcers… reporters… commercials… weather… tickets… and numerous other… non-athletic endeavors… and oh yea… a minuscule mention of actual Super Bowl game action.

Though other Super Bowls are discussed… the heart of this story revolves around the 2008 Super Bowl in Arizona. The story starts years in advance when Arizona presents the winning bid… and part of that bid is the design and construction of a stadium costing over FOUR-HUNDRED-FIFTY-MILLION-DOLLARS… if everything goes right. There is in depth reporting on all the specifics of putting together the number one party at the Super Bowl hosted by Playboy. The behind the façade glimpse… has nothing to do with salacious… sexual… gossip… but with construction deadlines… where to put the bar… where to put the coat check station… who is worthy of private porta-bathrooms… how to keep the carpet clean… when there is a heavy rain storm… that turns the parking lot into milk chocolate… the difference in the way Playboy treats gate crashers… as compared to Maxim.

Then of course the author addresses the many myths surrounding the Super Bowl that are almost as legendary and unproven as “Big Foot” and the Loch Ness Monster:

*The “POTENTIAL” TV audience is more than a billion viewers worldwide… there are a billion possible viewers but that isn’t anywhere near the amount of actual people who “DO” view the game.* (There are a lot of people in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America… who don’t watch the game.)

*If everyone flushes the toilet during halftime… sewer lines all over America will explode… No.*


*”Americans eat two-thirds of the year’s crop of avocados as guacamole while they’re watching the game. More like FOUR-PERCENT, and it turns out that Cinco de Mayo is actually the biggest avocado-eating day of the year in the United States.”*

*Domestic violence increases more on Super Sunday than any other day… “NO”… numerous other days outrank Super Sunday… “most notably Christmas”.*

As a longtime NFL season ticket holder… one fact provided here helps answer one of the most nagging… of all questions… for me… and all the other disgruntled season ticket holders across the country. Why do actual fans get so few of the Super Bowl tickets available. The answer is… because here’s how they’re distributed:

*”The NFL keeps twenty-five-percent of the tickets for distribution to sponsors and other VIP’s… each of the teams playing in the game get seventeen-and-one-half-percent… the host team gets five-percent… and the other twenty-nine teams receive a one-point-two percent allotment each.”

The debate of how much money a Super Bowl actually generates for the host city is debated by cities… and academics… with drastically different results. This book is an interesting business analysis of all that is “SUPER-BOWL”… but if you… the potential reader is looking for actual football action… this is not the book for you.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, especially with the Super Bowl coming up soon. Learned a lot about how the camera production crews work and some other neat tidbits, but wasn't a spellbinding book.

[Zach Koenig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle on this book states that it will take you "behind the scenes of the greatest day in American sport...Super Bowl Sunday". Well, author Allen St. John delivered superbly on that promise.

Basically, this book takes you through the lion's share of the preparation that goes into pulling off perhaps the biggest logistical nightmare in sporting history...the NFL Super Bowl. From choosing a stadium (heck, BUILDING a stadium!), coordinating the crowd, throwing the parties, and broadcasting the on-field action, among many other areas, St. John takes you along for the ride as he begins to truly understand the magnitude of the events he is witnessing.

As a lifelong football fan, I have always watched the Super Bowl, but never really researched the kind of work that goes into making it all run smoothly (or at least as close to that definition as possible). St. John actually makes it fun, too, as his interviews with the key orchestrators of the event are always revealing without being pushy or overly dramatic...he's just a guy trying to wrap his head around everything.

There are really only two complaints I have about the book: First, is the prolonged focus on the building of the new stadium in Tempe, Arizona to host the Big Game. It almost seemed as if St. John's original goal was to show the kind of economic impact a new stadium could have on a particular reason, but then decided to broaden his scope. Also, I was left a little bit wanting by the ending; more specifically the fact that so little was actually written about the actual Super Bowl in question. St. John does a remarkable job of showing his readers the build-up to the event, but fizzles a bit when actually describing the events that made it all pay off.

All in all, though, this book is a fun little read for all NFL fans (or anyone in the marketing/advertising/production fields!) that will leave you wondering how it will all come together this February.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book to read about the Super Bowl. If you're looking for a book about the game than this is not that book but if you're interested in everything that goes into the game than I think this book will be extremely interesting.

Allen St. John looks at all aspects of what makes the Super Bowl an event. This book mostly focuses on the build up to Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona. He talks to the architect of University of Phoenix Stadium and uncovers the process for a city/state to attract a Super Bowl to their area of the country. Readers find out what a host city has to provide to even be considered by the NFL.

St. John was also granted access to the FOXSports football broadcasting "A-team" to give an insider look of what goes on during the two weeks building up to the game for the announcers and sideline reporters preparing for a game that billions of people around the world will be watching. He also shares what goes on in the production truck and for the producer and network the build up for the game starts at least a year in advance. He discusses the dress rehearsal that occurs with high school football players standing in for the pros a few days before so that the producer can make sure the camera are in the correct places.

Super Bowl Sunday is the only day that people are looking forward to the commercials. St. John joins Budweiser and its advertising agency to see what goes in to creating a winning Super Bowl commercial. From the planning stage, to the audience testing, than on air and for the all important USA Today score on Monday morning.

The Saturday night before the big game St. John takes readers to the Playboy party. This party is considered THE party of Super Bowl week. Before taking you to it he takes you back to the previous year's party in Miami that was a disappointment in the host's eyes. This year's in the desert has to return Playboy to the must be at party title. The party planner allows the writer in during the planning to find out what it takes to be the best party.

I think, "The Billion Dollar Game: Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Day in American Sports- Super Bowl Sunday" would appeal to most readers. There is a look at the players and game but it also gives a great look at everything that is involved with the Super Bowl.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book certainly conveys well the upwardly spiraling expectations of everyone involved with the hype and hoopla of Super Bowls. The author followed the years of preparation for Super Bowl XLII in the Phoenix area, including the concerns and efforts of the host city organizers, the FOX television crew, the Playboy party crew, the ad agencies, and the halftime show producers.

St. John provides some interesting historical Super Bowl facts and debunks some commonly held beliefs concerning Super Bowl Sunday. But the salient mood throughout is the urgent desire to produce an event that seems to meet the hype, and that is more spectacular than the year before. Ironically, the one thing they cannot control is the game itself - the teams and the type of game they play.

The Super Bowl is portrayed as an evolving phenomenon, where the fans lap up the inflated significance of everything and enjoy taking part in something they perceive as momentous. It would seem to be an accepted fact that Americans deserve more and more WOW!, and will jump all over any mistake or failure that detracts from it. The one question St. John never asks is "Why?", but I wouldn't expect that of a sports columnist.

[Marc Pong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because of the author's depth of knowledge but I have to give it only 3 stars as he didnt write with the average sports fan in mind (me!). For example, he talks way too much about architecture and broadcasting and too little on the Super Bowl. He's too smart and intellectual for sports fans. Overall, it's a good book. I learned a few things about the Super Bowl and now have a better appreciation for camera angles. I never thought Id learned something from a sports book about camera angles. lol

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book only gets three stars because I thought it might be more in depth than it was. Of course, how in depth can you get about the Super Bowl? Very, very little of the book talked about the game itself (Super Bowl 42), but a lot about what it takes to make it all happen. I really like football, college more than NFL, but the amount of money, time and energy going in to just this one game was staggering and a little depressing. Made me ponder our priorities. But I still like football.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a handful of enjoyable facts, but they're scattered throughout a boring and disjointed narrative. As well, critics and cynics might decry the sheer extravagance that goes into a mere football game. This book reports the extravagance well, but does little to convince that this actually is more than a mere football game.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read all about the Super Bowl. But not just about the game; he focused equally on the game plus "the show" and "the celebration," so you get to read a lot about the huge Super Bowl parties as well as the behind-the-scenes camera crew details that go into filming and producing the game that is watched by so many millions (billion?) people worldwide.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak sauce. A third of the book is taken up spending time on how the Playboy party is set up. Also, author has weak command of the English language.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes before during and after a Super Bowl.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mishmash of bits about the Super Bowl from the Playboy party to how the camera crew works. It's pretty eh.

[Bryan Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more to this game than anyone realizes!

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started out good and then faded. It seems that the book was more interested in the Playboy party at the Super Bowl than the Super Bowl.