Doug Laney
VP Research, Business Analytics and Performance Management
1 years at Gartner
25 years IT industry
Coverage Areas:
by Doug Laney ?|? February 6, 2012 ?|? Submit a Comment
Yesterday during the on-air buildup to the Super Bowl a reporter mentioned that over one billion people were expected to watch this year?s big game. It occurred to me how few of these individuals, including some Americans, fully understand what the Super Bowl really means.? The next news story was about Super PACs (a new form of political action committee), and it occurred to me how, despite Stephen Colbert?s best efforts, even fewer people understand what a Super PAC is. So for both fun and education I created a little side-by-side comparison of the Super Bowl (and American football) versus a Super PAC (and the American elections).
| Super Bowl | Super PAC |
| Enabled by antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 | Enabled by expenditure exception under the revised Federal Election laws of 2010 |
| Enables players to run for touchdowns | Enables candidates to run for office |
| Money comes from citizens and businesses | Money comes from citizens and businesses |
| Funds players? lifestyles | Funds candidates? campaigns?and lifestyles |
| Pays for hysterical ads | Pays for histrionic ads |
| Helps players get enshrined in Hall of Fame | Helps a candidate get ensconced in Oval Office |
| Players communicate with fans through the media | Candidates communicate with fund through the media |
| Fans can bestow with unlimited fame | Fans can bestow with unlimited funding |
| As a result of their fame, many individual players become corporations | As a result of the courts, laws don?t discriminate between individuals and corporations |
| Foreign teams not allowed to participate in US football | Foreign businesses allowed to participate in US elections |
| Initial goal is wining a series of playoff games in multiple cities; ultimate goal is winning the national championship | Initial goal is winning multiple primary elections in multiple states; ultimate goal is winning the general election |
| Offense wins games; defense wins championships | Being offensive wins primaries; being on the defensive loses general elections |
| Halftimes are spectacular | Debates are spectacles |
| Required to disclose injuries | Required to disclose donors |
| Trash-talking | Trash-talking |
| Players wear eye black | Candidates get black-eyes |
| Players leave it all on the field for their teammates and fans | Candidates leave a little left over for themselves |
| Coaches stand on the sidelines and call plays; quarterbacks audible | Fund manager stands on the sidelines and call plays; candidates are audible |
| Players make a bit more money each playoff game they win | Candidates raise a lot more money each primary election they win |
| Sports networks are the real winners | News networks are the real winners |
Ultimately the larger story for both the Super Bowl and Super PACs is about corporate influence. Super Bowl ads may be expensive, but the cost per second per viewer is on par with any other TV show. Moreover, due to social media these Super Bowl ads often take on a life in the Twittersphere, on YouTube and in Facebook after (and even before) they air, thereby enabling a business to reach a much larger audience than those viewing the ad when it aired. Many businesses also use the power of social media to actively engage potential customers by drawing them to their website or Facebook page. Think: Danica Patrick. Similarly, US elections are expensive, and reaching voters today also requires a social multichannel approach. Super PACs now provide the unbounded means for individuals and corporations from anywhere on the planet to influence US elections. So if your business wants to and has the financial means to reach a large swath of both consumers and voters, the Super Bowl and the Super PAC have got you covered.
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