UNI professor says Superbowl is not so super

While T-V executives would have you believe otherwise, the Superbowl really isn’t such a super event on a world scale, according to a University of Northern Iowa study. Chris Martin, a U-N-I professor of communications studies, says other sports have a much larger global appeal. Soccer, cricket and rugby all draw larger audiences by more double that of the Superbowl. While American T-V networks claim this Sunday’s matchup between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens may have up to a billion viewers around the world, Martin says that’s far from true. He guesses it’ll be fewer than a half-billion people watching around the world and only about 130-million in the U-S. Martin says the estimated audience for soccer’s World Cup championship easily draws two billion viewers. Due to the advertising dollars involved, Martin says U-S T-V executives have created the perception everyone in the world will watch this game. In reality, he says at least nine out of ten people worldwide won’t watch it. As for those who do watch, Martin says most only watch part and not all of the game.