DID YOU KNOW? 

Did you know that referees that officiate the Super Bowl also get rings? Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). Winners of the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) play the game. It’s hosted by a different city each year every January or February. The day of the Super Bowl game is known as the Super Bowl Sunday and has become a de facto national holiday in the United States. The Super Bowl ring is the award given to the championship game-winners for the team players and members. These rings are made of yellow or white gold with diamonds. They usually include the team name with their logo and the Super Bowl number in Roman numeral. But, the rings awarded to referees aren’t quite the same as the rings that team players get. In an article published in 2014 by Mike Pereira of Fox Sports, he explained that the game officials get Super Bowl rings just like the players do. Although they aren’t as big as the players’ rings, they are still valuable pieces of jewelry. Since only the very best officials are given the chance to work the big game, these championship rings bring so much pride to the referees. Super Bowl Sunday is the most-watched single-day sporting event in the world. In 2016, it was broadcasted to over 170 countries with an estimated 112 million viewers in total. With viewers all over the world, the referees are also evaluated, only different than the players. If no one complains about their officiating performance, that means they did a good job.

In recent years, there has been a decline in TV ratings that pushed the NFL to come up with a “tri-cast” distribution model. NFL wants their games to be viewable in three platforms: on broadcast TV (via NBC and CBS); on their own cable TV channel (NFL Network); and via the internet through streaming. Even with TV ratings going down, the NFL found out that people still watch football on TV more than the internet. NFL believes that their revenue when fans stream live sports will continue to climb as they broaden their digital reach. NFL’s Senior Vice President for Digital Media Vishal Shah admitted that they’re still in the learning phase but is hopeful that the digital streams will be an additive to their revenue especially with the battle of what’s the best apps to watch live sports.