The AFL-NFL Merger

This year we experienced, according to many, the greatest comeback in sports history. The New England Patriots came back from being down 28-3 to end up winning the Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL has had many crazy games, but where did it all begin? The NFL, founded in 1920, has morphed greatly since the origin, and has immensely impacted the world of sports.

In 2013, the NFL’s Vikings and the The Minnesota Metropolitan Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) agreed to construction guidelines for the new Vikings stadium. Replacing the eyesore of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the new stadium called for a modern design with a glass façade that would reflect Minneapolis’s downtown. While the design seemed innocuous to most, ornithologists immediately objected to the plan: large expanses of glass would confuse migrating birds by reflecting the sky. The birds would careen into the stadium, injuring or killing themselves. The Minnesota Audubon Society became a champion for the issue, launching a campaign calling for the stadium to be constructed with less reflective, bird-safe glass. The installation

The NFL was founded on September 17, 1920 and was known as the American Professional Football Association (APFA). It was renamed in 1922 as the National Football League or NFL. In 1920 there were eleven football franchises to form the first professional football league compared to the 32 teams that form the league now. The original teams are: Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Tigers, Dayton Triangles, Akron Professionals, Rochester (N.Y.) Jeffersons, Rock Island Independents, Muncie Flyers, Decatur Staleys, Chicago Cardinals, and Hammond Pros. Jim Thorpe was elected as the league's first president. In 1970 NFL's rival league AFL merged their schedules and formed two conferences in which the AFL became AFC and NFL became NFC.

My research question is “Why did the steroid ban of 1987 have no affect on the growing size and performance of linemen in the NFL?” The use of steroids in the NFL began in the 1960’s and came with a lot of controversy. As time progressed, more rumors and players came out about linemen using steroids to enhance their size. There have been a few linemen who have come out about their use of steroids such as Lyle Alzado, Tony Mandarich, and Steve Courson. The ineffectiveness of the steroid ban has resulted in the perpetual use of steroids in the NFL.

The NFL: League of Denial, written by Mark and Steve Fainaru is one of the first books to publicly question the NFL’s concussion protocol. The book was originally produced as a documentary on PBS, which aired in 2010. The two authors, Mark and Steve Fainaru are ESPN reporters, and brothers. Steve Fainaru formerly worked as a war reporter in Iraq, while Mark Fainaru primarily focused on sports journalism. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Mark Fairnaru describes the book as documenting "pretty extensively two decades worth of denial by the league to basically bury the concussion issue as anything serious for the sport" (Chicago Tribune). The two authors became interested in the concussion crisis in the NFL after reading the research of Dr. Bennet Omalu. Dr. Bennet Omalu is a Nigerian, now American Medical Doctor, Forensic Pathologist, Professor, Medical Examiner, but most importantly, the discoverer of the connection between the brain disease, CTE and sports-related concussions. The book focuses on Dr. Omalu, and the case of former NFL player, Mike Webster, and his football related injuries, which later led to his death.

The NFL is considered a regulator in professional football. Therefore, they have an obligation to … However, the NFL and the NCAA have failed to produce concussion policies. While, the NCAA expects the individual schools to handle … the NFL rejects the notion that football related concussions play a large part in … This type of thinking is what has gotten the league into trouble. The league argues that there is not enough evidence to support … and has treated the problem similar to that of the tobacco company’s denial that cigarettes had bad side effects to a person’s health (Hanna, 2010). The misinformation given to current and former players has resulted in 4500 retired players filing a lawsuit against the league ().

1. Discuss the factors that have resulted in the NFL becoming “America’s Game” and the

Contests in skill, strength and speed have occupied an important place in every culture throughout the ages. The meaning of the term sport and the effect that sport has on society is always changing. Sports have especially changed in the last two decades and can certainly be evidence by the growing number of labor disputes and court cases involving all sports.

Sports Stadiums are an iconic staple of American tradition. However not everything about these venues is positive. Team owners take advantage of laws and fans to meet their own goals. Citizens and city officials from various locations have taken up their grievances with the NFL in the past. And it has gotten to the point where even political parties join together to bring to light issues with the organization. NFL stadiums are not good for cities because they take advantage of tax payers, hurt citizens on an economic level and cost them billions in subsidies.

While growing up in the state of Texas I was introduced to National Football League (NFL) at a very young age. Not only was I obsessed with great players like Emmitt Smith and Michael Irving, I had a more finical appreciation for the lucrativeness associated with the NFL. My young adulthood as well as my teenage years was spent playing and learning football with the aspirations of hopefully making it to the NFL. Unfortunately, my playing days ended with tryouts at Texas Tech University, but my love for the game has remained stagnant over the years even till this day. The NFL today is Americas most watched sports league and has taken the crown as the most lucrative and unique economic force in sports. Forbes offered approximations stating that on average, the NFL generates more than $6-9 billion a year in revenues alone. A third of the individual franchises in the league were appraised at over more than $1 billion while the other franchises average nine figures or higher. The NFL as an organization generates its revenues through a multitude of ways ranging from huge television contracts, in-stadium ticket sales, advertising ads paid for by sponsors and merchandise. Their business model unlike most other leagues, is centered on a hard salary cap on player contracts which provides cost certainty with its sponsors. In this paper, I will examine the economic and historical narrative associated with the growth of the NFL’s

Over the past decade, NCAA Men’s Basketball has gained an immense following; as a matter of fact, NCAA has reported record ratings in 5 of the past 10 Final Fours. College Basketball has gained what sports analyst over at ESPN, Stephen A. Smith has described as a “Cult Following”. Every year you see high school Phenom’s like: Ben Simmons (76ers - Pro), Jaylen Hands (UCLA – Collegiate), Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers - Pro), and Jahlil Okafor (76ers – Pro) attend these institutions; play a season of college basketball and then go straight to the Pro’s. So, why are these athletes attending college? Why spend 9 months at an institution playing for a team, all while not receiving compensation for your services; Risking injuries, and negative

To connect to the economic power that generates through the Super Bowl one must understand the historical pattern of revenue, ticket cost, and attendance the game exhibits in the week leading up to the actual showdown. The ticket prices of the Super Bowl are the main catalyst into understanding what every consumer is willing to spend and how much revenue the game brings to that city. In 1967, the first Super Bowl tickets were no higher than 12 dollars and the average price of a home was less than 25,000 dollars (Smith, 2012). In 2016, the average ticket price was 1,325 dollars making a big ascendance from 1967 (Depietro, 2017). Therefore, this also shows how the game has become more popular since it has come into existence and ticket prices

"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”-To Kill A mocking Bird. Although rarely mentioned in the book, the idea of killing a mocking bird appears very significant in Harper lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, hence the title. Lee uses this idea of the literal killing an innocent bird as a representation for the major underlying theme of racism. To Lee, the mockingbird represented the innocent inhabitants of Maycomb Alabama who, through racism, suffered hate, persecution, and murder.

The NFL has become the most popular sport in the United States. It is watched my millions every weekend. The NFL is only growing in popularity. With new fans joining the fun every day. The NFL has faced its share of problems too. With concussions scaring away many future players, the NFL is hoping to lower the possibility of concussions in the future. Each NFL team plays a total of 16 games over a span of 17 weeks. There are two conferences in the NFL, the AFC and the NFC. There are four divisions in each conference, each with 4 teams. The playoff teams are decided by the division rankings. The winner of each division makes the playoffs, with the two best 2nd place teams making it in as a wild card.

Through out time there has been a consistent use of tactics aimed to persuade and influence individuals in every aspect of their lives including their political views, their decisions in regards to military service, and even their choices of what foods they should or should not consume. Within the realm of advertising, there are numerous techniques in which advertisers can persuade other people to believe in their product, ideals, and/or actions. These different techniques include; Social Identifications, a Need for Cognition, Appeals to Emotions with a focus on triggering fear and enthusiasm, an Appeal to Association, and the utilization of images and music to elicit an emotional response. These techniques can reach individuals no matter their sex, race, religion, political affiliation, age, or level of intelligence.