“Sunday Night Football” shows that turnstiles and football go together
What visual symbolism is associated with the act of viewing a big football game? The opening montage of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” telecasts reaffirms that turnstiles and football go together – not just literally in stadiums, but also figuratively in the minds of fans.
Each week, the telecast’s opening video (which features singer Faith Hill and a number of NFL stars) shows fans going through stadium turnstiles. Quick-cut close-ups of the turnstiles themselves are included. And a few recognizable players, such as Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis, are shown as they pause at a turnstile entrance.
NBC and the NFL obviously know that fans will have a positive reaction to the almost-subliminal insertion of video images of turnstiles. Why? At a stadium, the process of entering turnstiles is a right of passage which takes a fan from the outside world into the world of big-time professional football. Viewers at home, watching this opening video minutes before the kickoff, will feel like they are experiencing the same transition: See those turnstiles? We’re now at the game!
