Ben Gilbert

The Super Bowl is watched by over 100 million viewers every year in approximately two-thirds of American households.

My favorite Super Bowl stat is that it's the weekend with the fewest weddings planned of the year.

It is the NFL's world, and Americans are just living in it.

Especially the TV networks, which have been reduced from pillars of our nation in their heyday to largely distribution channels for the NFL today, plus some other lesser programming sprinkled in.

Of the top 100 TV broadcasts aired last year, 82 of them were NFL games.

But how did we get here?

How did this game become the most valuable media property in America?

The story is one of incredible cooperation, of belief in growing the pie over a century, and just like our benchmark episode, of communist capitalism at its finest.

The NFL owners have made bold long-term bets in choosing to divide their revenues equally in a way that no other sports league has.

Of course, the NFL hasn't been free of controversy.

From the horrible recent on-field collapse of Damar Hamlin to the epidemic of CTE among former football players, players are clearly putting their lives at risk.

And the modern fan's relationship with the sport is complicated.

I personally love watching football.

It has been finely tuned over the years to be maximally, maximally entertaining.

But it comes with cognitive dissonance for me every time I tune in, and I know many others feel the same.

Whether pro football is your favorite pastime or you think it's a societal ill, there is no denying the incredible role that it plays in all of our lives today.

Now, listeners, just like our NBA episode a couple of years ago, this is an episode on the business of football.

It's not specifically about things I learned reviewing game film or the merits of the I-formation.

Today, we're talking about the business.

Well, after you finish this episode, come discuss it with the other smart, curious, kind members of the Acquired Slack at acquired.fm slash slack.