Super Bowl Becomes ‘US Lunar New Year Gala’ in China

Opinion
USCNPM Archive
02/09/2016
0

Denver Broncos wide receiver Andre Caldwell (L) forced out of bounds by Carolina Panthers safety Tre Boston after a 22 yard pass reception during the first quarter at Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on February 7, 2016. [Photo/IC]

American football is an unpopular sport in China and that is why many Chinese can hardly imagine how crazy the American fans were when the Denver Broncos upset the top-seeded Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50 on Sunday.

One simple comparison, however, easily solved the problem.

“Super Bowl, a US Lunar New Year Gala,” as Sohu.com put it.

Beyonce performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 50 football game in Santa Clara, California on February 7, 2016. [Photo/IC]

The NFL’s championship extravaganza took place on Sunday, the same day when the Chinese celebrated the Lunar New Year’s Eve, with state broadcaster CCTV’s gala show having been a staple of celebrations since the 1980s.

Like the CCTV gala show, Super Bowl is a nation-wide celebration, with singers and dancers performing and usually scoring high TV viewing rate.

According to CCTV’s statistics on Tuesday, the 2016 gala show attracted 690 million TV audience while a total of 1.03 billion people watched the TV show on various media including televisions, the Internet and social media.

Lady Gaga sings the National Anthem at Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium on February 7, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. [Photo/IC] — Lady Gaga sings the National Anthem at Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium on February 7, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. [Photo/IC]

At the same time, viewership tracker Nielsen said the Super Bowl game drew some 111.9 million viewers to make it the third most watched show in US television history.

Relative to respective population, the Super Bowl is indeed as influential in the US as the Lunar New Year Gala in China.

Do you think so?