Pre Pre-Game Post Show

Even though I'm a die hard Packers fan, I don't actually get to watch too many of the early games. there's just too much to do this time of year for me. With the changing seasons I'm in a mad dash to get all the projects I started in the spring, but put off due to the warm weather of summer. So for the 1st few weeks I'm typically listening to the games on the radio while I'm working on something in the garage or backyard.

Today I had the radio tuned into the local channel that covers the Packers a good hour before kickoff and I couldn't help but think what a huge industry the NFL really is. Besides the teams and league itself that generate millions of dollars each week in revenue, there is the a huge industry that covers the game.

As I listened to the radio pregame show, I thought that show employees many people. There's commentators and analysts who babble the same stuff before every game. Also there is a production staff, audio and broadcasting techs, researchers & statisticians, reporters, writers, etc.

And this is repeated on every city that has a pro team with multiple radio and television outlets. There is also the national broadcast and cable networks, satellite radio shows, blogs podcasts & other websites all focused on the NFL. Who knows how many people make their living or at least a good part of it off of the NFL, or any other pro or college sport for that matter.

It's kind of amazing when you think about it. Extremely amazing when you consider there is hours and hours of coverage both before and after the actual game when there really isn't hours and hours worth of stuff to discuss.

Seriously, why is there a three hours of pre and post game coverage? Besides current team events like whos injured or in jail, there really hasn't been an original statement, remark or topic discussed in decades. The subject never changes. They want the home team to win and to win they have to play better than the other team. Do we really need to talk about that longer than they'll actually play the game? Apparently so. Probably thousands of jobs depend on it.