A little over a week ago, the sports world basked in the occasion of the 48th annual Super Bowl. The Seattle Seahawks embarrassed the Denver Broncos, dispatching them 43-8. Most of us on this side of the pond will have already forgotten that scoreline, but the spectacle itself will remain a little fresher in our minds.
In truth, the Super Bowl is more than just an American football match. It's an occasion. The NFL have managed to fuse sports and culture perfectly to make it an event that the whole country is enveloped in regardless of their individual interest in sports. People gather, TV stations change their schedule and the whole nation, for a day or two, is gripped by one singular sporting event. For instance, the Super Bowl has a grand history of spectacular half-time shows including performances from Beyonce, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and more. Coupled with its corporate tradition of debuting spectacular adverts during the many intervals from play, there is genuinely plenty on offer to entertain all sorts of people.
The FA Cup final is the obvious contender to compare with the Super Bowl for English sport. A famous tournament of the nation's favourite sport, settled by one single game that airs on terrestrial television. In fact, the comparisons end there. Now, I'm not saying that I want the FA to fervently promote the final by shoving Jessie J on the pitch at half-time, in a feckless attempt to maintain any interest in the event. But I do think Britain's footballing body could do more to make the FA Cup final a bigger occasion on a national scale. There's no reason why the FA Cup final can't be an experience that grips the entirety of England in the days leading up to the event. There's certainly no need for us to try and emulate the Super Bowl to too great an extent. The cacophonous pageantry of American Football and the orgulousness required to call the winners of a domestic trophy 'world champions' is not found on these shores but their blue print for sporting spectacles is certainly to be admired.
Super Bowl XLVIII brough in 111.5 million viewers for Fox last Sunday night meaning around 35% of the USA was tuning in, making it the most watched television broadcast in the nation's history. In stark contrast, the most recent FA Cup final which saw Wigan Athletic upset the odds to beat Manchester City was viewed by 4.10 million on ITV (8% of England), being outperformed that week by an episode of Off Their Rockers and Paul O'Grady: For The Love of Dogs. It's not like a boost in attention for the FA Cup final wouldn't favour TV channels, if American trends are anything to go by. Fox's comedy New Girl received 26 million viewers, an 867% increase in viewership on it's season average.
Unfortunately, the FA Cup is a distant after thought behind the much preferred league campaigns, which I can certainly appreciate. England has two cup competitions. The Football League Cup has long been disregarded by the 'bigger clubs' unless they reach the latter stages; only then do they usually field their strongest sides. Even Championship clubs see that tournament as a chance for squad rotation. In recent years, the FA Cup has been heading in the same direction with many clubs simply not trying to compete, illustrated by falling attendances and of course 'weakened' squads.
It's not like England wouldn't embrace a grander spectacle, we see how much football fever takes hold of the nation every time the European Championships and World Cup roll around. And, it's certainly not beyond us to forge such a special sporting event, given the overwhelming success of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. In theory, everything is in place for the FA Cup final to be a truly global sporting event. We really ought to be giving English football's grandest competition a less bathetic climax, otherwise what is the point? But, until the FA and indeed the football clubs themselves start to take the world's oldest football tournament seriously; it's likely to remain a distant dream.