All Things Travel: NFL Playing In The Stupor Bowl
BOSTON (CBS) - The National Football League is playing in The Stupor Bowl and it's going into overtime.
You might ask what the happenings of the NFL have to do with travel, but millions of dollars are spent each year on league, fan and media travel. Professional football is ranked number one in television sports ratings.
When the Boston Globe makes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's press conference on Friday the lead story the following day and the Saturday Wall Street Journal runs three stories on the same subject, this is big news.
Was it any surprise the Goodell's press conference was held on Friday when public relations executives say bad news should be delivered? The NFL believes no one is paying any attention over the weekend. Today's news cycle is 24/7.
The thing I don't understand in this mess is where the NFL security team is.
In all the coverage over the weekend, the most surprising new development came from an ESPN report. It quoted Baltimore Ravens officials telling suspended back Ray Rice that he would have a job with the organization when he retired.
TMZ gets all the credit for obtaining a copy of the tape in which Rice allegedly assaulted his then-fiance, and making it public. They say all it took was a telephone call to the casino in Atlantic City where the incident took place.
The NFL officially does not condone gambling, but more money is bet on their games than any other sport. Super Bowl weekend is one of the two or three biggest events of the year in Las Vegas.
Surely someone at the plush NFL headquarters on Park Avenue in New York City must know that every public area of a casino has video coverage and that includes elevators.
On Sunday, the restaurants, retail and hotel at Patriot Place in Foxboro will get a boost from the team's opening home game. Hotels in Providence will house the Oakland team and the media. Bus companies will transport fans to Gillette Stadium.
If the NFL commissioner lasts another week, I will be surprised.
All it would take for the game to be over would be for Proctor & Gamble to say they are withdrawing their TV advertisements on NFL games. But wait, what would then happen to their naming rights on Gillette Stadium?
On Friday, P & G said it was scaling back its promotion with the NFL.
As the media likes to say: "these comments do not necessarily reflect the views of this station."
Bob Weiss reports on business travel on Mondays at 5:55 a.m. on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
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