HOUSTON (CN) – Houston is buzzing with Super Bowl events, but some observers wonder if it’s just the latest town to be gamed by NFL demands for concessions from host cities, despite the league’s $13 billion in annual revenue.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady could make another mark in the record books Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. A Patriots victory would make Brady the winner of five Super Bowls, the most ever by an NFL quarterback.
Brady has a few local fans. An elderly black man leaned against a cart this week as he inched it up onto a light-rail platform downtown and enjoyed some friendly smack talk with a Falcons fan.
“I love Tom Brady! I call them the Brady Bunch. I used to live for the weekend, but now I live for Sundays. I’m living just for Sunday. I don’t want the weekend. You can have the weekend,” he yelled.
His antagonist William Anderson, a 42-year-old longshoreman who works at the Port of Houston, pointed to the sky.
“Hey, get out the way! Watch them wings up there, man! It’s a bird flying and he sees something about to die. I’m going to lose my job. I’m not going to work Sunday. I’m going to watch Atlanta bust these folks up, man,” Anderson said.
The Patriots fan didn’t seem concerned.
“I’m going to watch the Tom Brady show. You know that story, ‘The Brady Bunch.’ That’s the way we all became the Brady Bunch,” he sang.
An informal poll of Houstonians showed most rooting for the Falcons, with many saying they’re tired of seeing the Patriots in the final game.
Led by Brady and taciturn, hoodie-wearing head coach Bill Belichick, Sunday’s game will be the Patriots’ seventh Super Bowl appearance since 2002, with the team posting a 4-2 record behind the duo.
It may be a case of sour grapes for Houstonians, because the Patriots beat the Houston Texans in the second round of the playoffs this year, as they did in 2013.
The Falcons have never won a Super Bowl. They come into the game as 3-point underdogs, but are capably led by veteran QB Matt Ryan.
A favorite for this season’s MVP award, Ryan hasn’t thrown an interception in six games and had a 14-yard rushing touchdown last week against the Green Bay Packers, his first rushing TD since 2012.
The Houston Super Bowl Host Committee signed up 10,000 volunteers to staff a 10-day NFL Experience event at a downtown convention center, this for a league that expects to report $13.3 billion in revenue for 2016, according to Forbes magazine — up more than 50 percent since 2010. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he aims to lead the NFL to annual revenue of $25 billion by 2027. The lion’s share of the money comes from television deals.
At the NFL Experience in Houston, players are signing autographs, fans compete in punt, pass and kick contests and coaches are putting on football clinics for kids. Tickets are $35 for adults and $25 for kids 12 or younger.
Houstonian Elliott Spruce said the entrance fees aren’t worth it.