There is an irony at the heart of the sports-as-entertainment business that most television executives would acknowledge but very few would ever publicly admit.
It starts with a network’s committing billions of dollars for the rights to show the competition, and it builds from there.
That can be doubled, at least, for a game on foreign soil, once hotels are reserved, equipment transported and flights booked.
And then, of course, there is what is still called — though not always that accurately — the talent.
A huge amount of time, thought and money goes into those segments: the fevered buildup, the halftime fat-chewing, the postgame bone picking.
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Broadcasting