The NFL certainly lucked out with the Super Bowl LIII matchup.
On one side you have the highly decorated New England Patriots, who will look to add to their already lengthy list of achievements over the past two decades. On the other is the young and exciting Los Angeles Rams, who will look to kickstart the league’s next dynasty.
While Roger Goodell and Co. effectively are in a win-win situation regardless of who hoists the Lombardi Trophy at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Colin Cowherd believes The Shield would benefit greater if the Rams are the last team standing in the 2018 campaign.
“…Let me add this: If the NFL had to pick a side on who wins this game, they’d want Los Angeles,” Cowherd said Wednesday on FOX Sports 1’s “The Herd”. “Five or six years ago I worked at the other place (ESPN), I was told by an executive the NFL wanted to become more entertainment-driven. They wanted, they understood they were now a television show more than a sport. Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of North America. Since I heard that six years ago, Vegas is going to have a team, Los Angeles has two teams, they’re moving the NFL combine here (L.A.), they’ve OK’d and completed about 60 percent of a new stadium and Super Bowls and the NFL Network will take place in that stadium. This would be good for the league. (Sean) McVay, (Jared) Goff, city of L.A, free agency as a whole, NFL. This game means nothing to Tom Brady’s legacy, absolutely nothing for (Bill) Belichick. But it is a game-changer if the Rams win.”
A Los Angeles win certainly would help purely from a point of parity, and as Cowherd noted, there would be more than a few victories on the business side of things. But to say it means nothing to the Patriots is a bit hyperbolic, and there’s a chance we’ll never have the opportunity to see this type of history unfold ever again.
So sure, deep down the NFL might be hoping for a Rams win. But let’s not act like the league will be devastated if Brady and Co. become kings of the football world yet again.