Business of Sport/Daire Whelan: Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and as ever it's easy to take your mind away from the game between the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots and be distracted instead by all the hoopla and crass commercialism that surrounds Super Bowl XXXVIII. Here's a lowdown of the real Super Bowl stats:
100 million - Number of viewers for CBS's Super Bowl coverage. They won't, however, get to see the anti-President Bush ad booked by the liberal MoveOn group, as it was rejected by CBS saying the spot violated their policy against issue-advocacy advertising.
$2.25 million - The price of a 30-second ad during on Sunday. Super Bowl I in 1967 cost $42,000, while the price rose to $162,000 10 years later; in 1985 it hit the $500,000 mark and topped the $1 million mark four years on.
$5,000 - Asking price for the most expensive seat in the house at Reliant Stadium, Houston. Average $325 tickets are being touted for $1,700 - up on last year but not expected to reach the high of $2,600 in 2001.
$1,195- Rumoured Internet price for tickets to Maxim's Post-Super Bowl party. However, any prospective buyers should beware there are no tickets and it is strictly invitation only to the secret location of the party somewhere outside Houston.
$500 - Cost of a skybox at tonight's pre-game Sexy in the City party being hosted by LL Cool J and Jay Z. And speaking of parties, sports collectibles company Upper Deck had their last party Thursday, Nike held theirs last night and sports agency SFX got in on the act last night as well. Oscar night, it seems, isn't a patch on the Super Bowl any more.
And in case you're wondering who will actually win the Lombardi trophy tomorrow (named after Green Bay's legendary coach and author of this column's weekly quote), punters are going for the New England Patriots as seven-point favourites.
It's been hard enough (and long enough) for the Government and sports organisations here to come up with an approved plan for a National Stadium, so what hope that we will see "the phased delivery of a sporting campus at Abbotstown over a period of years", which will include "medical, research and training support for elite athlete development, administrative facilities for the smaller sporting bodies . . . as well as a range of other facilities including pitches and training grounds - and an indoor sporting arena"?
What is envisaged is a campus similar to that of the Australian Sports Institute in Canberra, but is it a realistic goal in the face of long-proven Irish prevarication; isn't the danger that in all of this, Campus Ireland is a means for political face-saving for Bertie Ahern?
While Irish sport is being revolutionised under the stewardship of the Irish Sports Council's John Treacy, the ever-present danger is of Irish sport continuing to be used as a political football. In the short-term, and for photo-opportunities for politicians, a redeveloped Lansdowne Road will provide evidence of a commitment to Irish sport. The truth though, is that the future of Irish sport rests in the long-term plans of Campus Ireland at Abbotstown.
Australia got their act together after poor performances at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and in 1981 opened the Australian Institute of Sport to put Australia at the forefront of world sport by providing world-class training facilities. Nineteen years later and Australia won a record 58 medals, including 16 golds, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
It is only now we're examining the possibility of something that Australia envisaged a quarter of a century ago and it will only be another 25 years before we will see tangible benefits of such far-sighted sports policy.
The question is whether the politicians can keep their hands off the long-term benefits of sport for the short-term advantage of their own political gain.
Minister John O'Donoghue may say that a new Lansdowne is "a symbol of the Government's commitment to develop sport at every level in this country and for all the people of Ireland", but the real symbol will be in the development of a sports campus far from Havelock Square.
Alex Ferguson shouldn't feel he's being picked on these days - he isn't the only one getting a one-year rolling contract. David Michels, chief executive of Hilton, owners of Ladbrokes bookmakers, has had his contract cut to a one-year rolling term and will receive no compensation for the reduction - despite Michels saying he would stand firm in the face of any attempted cuts.
His deputy, Brian Wallace, has had his liquidated damages package, worth around £1.45 million, terminated. Wallace had negotiated the package after last year voluntarily reducing his contract from two years to one, and Ladbrokes chief executive Chris Bell has had to forfeit a benefits package but remains on just a one-year contract as well.
One-year terms for leading executives are in line with best-practice guidelines laid down by institutional investor groups - and this, it seems, is what Magnier and McManus are aiming to introduce at United.
260p
Manchester United share price. Down only 2.75p in the last month despite all the recent trouble
1 billion
Estimated global audience of Super Bowl XXXVIII according to the US National Football League
"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."
