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Super Bowl brings Giants-Patriots rematch and a first-time boost for Indianapolis
High school and college football games ended weeks ago, and the NFL's regular season wrapped up on New Year's Day. But football for 2011-12 doesn't end until a Super Bowl rematch next Sunday between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. They face off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis four years after their last championship showdown, which the Giants narrowly won 17-14. Both head coaches (Tom Coughlin of the Giants and Bill Belichick of the Patriots) and both starting quarterbacks (Eli Manning of New York and Tom Brady of New England) were in the same roles in 2008. Overall, seven Patriots and 16 Giants players from their last Super Bowl showdown will be on the field again. The Feb. 5 game is the first Super Bowl in Indianapolis, which has a four-year-old domed stadium. Kelly Clarkson will sing the national anthem and Madonna performs during halftime. The big game brings a windfall of pride and revenue for hotels, restaurants, clubs and shops. The host city and National Football League have dozens of public events this week, including an open-air Super Bowl Village downtown that includes two music stages, food stands, souvenir booths and zip-line rides. The massive global TV audience Sunday evening makes the game a huge deal for advertisers, who pay an average of $3.5 million for a 30-second commercial. Doritos has a poll at crashthesuperbowl.com to let fans vote on which of five spots should be shown. Other companies with social media tie-ins and online promotions include Dannon yogurt, Volkswagen and Chevrolet, which will air a hilarious one-minute spot by a young contest winner. Zach Borst, a 26-year-old aspiring filmmaker from Long Island, N.Y., gets $25,000 and national exposure for his spot showing a teen who thinks a Camaro convertible is his graduation gift. The ad, which you can watch below, has been played more than 730,000 times on YouTube since Jan. 19.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2013
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Find any Super Bowl preview story that interests you and tell why it's appealing or what you learned.
Now look for a report on the event's financial impact or other business-related coverage, including commercials.
If you're a sports fan, see if you spot an opinion column or interview predicting who'll win or what could determine the outcome. Do you agree?
Indianapolis resident says: "It's like we're in a different city. It doesn't normally feel like we're the 12th-largest city in America. Today it does." - Mary Snyder, 23, at Super Bowl Village