Why the Super Bowl is a reminder of how much we love a good story

Watching the 2023 Super Bowl LVII yesterday reminded me of how much people are looking for a good story. The television monitor that I viewed displayed story after story after story. Each room of the Super Bowl party in which I attended, was filled with attendees’ recollections about the narratives on the screen. We snacked on foods and beverages that had been purchased because of brand stories. The Super Bowl is a yearly reminder of the power of a good story.

What is a good story? — Storytelling Crash Course

In order to prove that the Super Bowl is a collection of good stories, it’s helpful to interact with the essence of good storytelling as seen by creative writers and English professionals.

In the storytelling tool box there is an endless amount of literary devices, during this explanation I will just focus on seven; 1. Hero 2. Villains or Anti Heros 3. A Story and B Story Structure 4. The typical three Act theatrical production structure 5. Climax 6. Clock 7. The Stakes.

(My reflections were influenced by the work of Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller and the masterclass.com collective of standout storytellers.)

The hero is the main character. In literature it is typically the protagonist or focal point of the entire story. According to Miller, in marketing the hero (for great companies) is the targeted customer.

The villain or the antihero is typically another character that displays traits and mores which are often opposite or in contradiction to the hero. In the movie The Lion King, the character Scar would be looked at as the villain or anti hero.

The A Story to B Story structure is explained in Brody’s work. In brief, the A Story is the big idea or the premise of the story. The B Story is the transformation that happens in the life of the hero.

In the movie, Home Alone, the A Story is the premise of what if an upper middle class family was so entrenched in the planning and execution of a family vacation that they forgot their own 10 year olds son. The B Story is Kevin’s ability to show gratitude to his parents.

The Three Act structure also explained in Brody’s work is how the traditional stage play unfolds. The first act is the rising action or the initial story movement. The second act is when chaos ensues, a problem happens that’s so big that the trajectory of the story changes. Things often go in the opposite direction in act three. Last but not least, in act three there is a resolution. While things may not resolve happily ever after there is typically a display of a unique path forward for the storyline.

In the movie Remember the Titans; Scene one is the blended racial teams pursuing a state championship together. Scene two is that the stakes are raised when it is discovered that it was a hoax for a tokenized display of solidarity, the team would be disbanded if they lost just one time. Scene three is the team is galvanized through the career ending injury of Gary Bertier and go on to win an undefeated state championship.

The climax of the story is the story’s highest emotional point. To revisit the Remember the Titan illustration, the injury of Gary Bertier would have been the story’s climax.

The clock of the story is the explicit or implicit countdown in which the hero must complete to reach a successful resolution. Dan Brown, writer of Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and many other works expanded on this literary tool that he often uses during this masterclass.com session.

In the movie Back to the Future the explicit clock would have been the “Great Scott!” moments when Marty and Doc Brown had to execute an action before calamity ensued. In the movie John Q, the implicit clock would have been John’s character getting the transplant before his son died.

The stakes are the objective sense of importance and or relative influence for the targeted reader. Stories that focus on topics like love, money, major historical events, government, rescue or conflict are generally seen as high stakes stories. Shonda Rhimes, writer of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and many other works expounded on this literary tool that she often uses during her masterclass.com session. Top grossing movies like Black Panther, Titanic, Top Gun, The Avengers and JFK are all high stakes examples of this literary device at work.

How the Super Bowl Reveals the Good Stories

In this next section I will attempt to use the seven aforementioned literary devices to dissect the elements of story seen in the Super Bowl event.

1. Each Commercial

• Hero — You, the prospective buyer.
• Villain — Factors that contribute to your unwillingness to buy or interact with the advertisement.
• Three Act Structure — 1. Your conception of reality 2. An unfulfilled reality absent the product or service 3. A vision cast of the product or service being able to fulfill your need
• A Story and B Story Structure — 1. A Story — Premise of the commercial 2. B Story — Your transformation as a result of using the product or service
• Climax — The moment when the product and or service are revealed .
• Clock — Typically 30 seconds
• The Stakes — 7 Million Dollars per commercial according to The Sporting News and Front Office Sports.

2. Each play in the game

• Hero — The Offense
• Villain — The Defense
• Three Act Structure — 1. The Offense tries to score 2. The Defense’s reaction 3. The play’s outcome
• A Story and B Story Structure — 1. A Story — The Offense tries to score 2. B Story is the player(s) that make the key block, tackle, read or action that springs or hinders the play
• Climax — When the the key block, tackle, read or action happen
• Clock — The 40 second play clock needed to snap the ball
• The Stakes — It’s possible that each play can have a major impact on the entire game.

3. The overall game

• Hero — The Most Valuable or Interesting Player on the Field
• Villain — Opposing Team, Best Player on Opposing Team and or the officials
• Three Act Structure — 1. The dueling quest for both teams to win. 2. Halftime and or game-time adjustments to the original game-plan. 3. The clear moment when the game is put out of reach mathematically
• A Story and B Story Structure — A Story — The competing teams desire to win — B Story — The hero grows through the performance of a game changing play
• Climax — The game changing play
• Clock — 60 Minute Total Game Clock
• The Stakes — Every game can impact on the outcome of a team on a season

4. The Season

• Hero — The Favorite Team
• Villain -The Opposing Team, Rival Teams, Front Office Decisions, League Office Decisions, The Media, Fan Reactions, Social Media Reactions etc.
• Three Act Structure — 1. Act One — The journey to win the championship 2. Act Two — The response to trying to qualify for the playoffs 3. Act Three — The Playoff Run
• A Story and B Story Structure — 1. A Story — The Super Bowl Journey 2. B Story — The litmus test can be displayed through what players and staff are retained for the next year.
• Climax — Hoisting the Lombardi Trophy or the moment when it is mathematically impossible to continue
• Clock — The 16 game regular season and playoffs which includes the Super Bowl.
• The Stakes — The winning of a Super Bowl or top level win for 32 teams / fan base, the financial growth possibilities of the franchise and or the likability factor for the individual sports brand or team

In conclusion, the Super Bowl is a mashup of story. Men and women from many different walks of life converge to watch the visual resolution to the common question “Who will win?!” Winning is not just restricted to the 100 yard area called the football field. I believe that our desire to “win” is more deeply rooted.

Each year we gather with friends, family and tribes in hopes for the “win” of shared happiness. I believe that we want to be inspired by a third act on the screen that will hopefully lead to our own great third act in life.

As a Christian and a man of faith I ultimately believe that we are looking for a God encounter moment. We are looking for a transformative hero. We are looking for an entity to restore the chaos of our lives. I hope that stories like the Super Bowl remind us of the high stake nature of each day. I pray that we would have an encounter with Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15) and His story before the clock runs out.