Super Bowl lockout hype time!

 

Aka, my way of saying that once again this year, if you want Super Bowl XLV commercial hype? Look elsewhere. I’m not running any of it. Links after the game of course, but until then, enjoy your Big Game™ hype-free stay here. The bigger thing for brands to think about though isn’t their amazing lack of social media integration this year or the return of Pepsi, but the 2011 season where lockout talk is heating up. Basically, the players want (X) and the owners will only pay (X). With the salary cap gone this year (meaning teams are free to spend like drunken bloggers and Donovan can McNabb his), and with no collective bargaining agreement in place for next year, the only brand to make out in case of a lockout would be the NFL.

They get to keep the lion’s share of all the fees paid for the rights to broadcast games - whether they play them or not. (They only have to pay back revenue on lost games if a strike is settled.) In other words, there's plenty of incentive for the NFL to support a lockout. Which also means a lot of brands dumping money on the Big Game will suddenly have a nice chunk to spread out over the entire year.  Imagine not advertising on the Super Bowl for one year. Hmm. That I can deal with. From a fan point of view though? Having lived through one strike already, it suh-hucked. Sure, you’d watch replacement players, but it was like watching movie football – surreal and disappointing.

One upside to a strike though: Men’s privates would be safe for once as Dorito’s UGC streak is broken.