Columnist Dean Juipe: Super Bowl is destined for pay TV

Dean Juipe

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 10:23 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It took a filmography expert to come up with the name of the movie.

"Witness To The Execution" is what it's called and it was a made-for-TV movie that came out in 1994 and is occasionally rerun even today. The central theme of the movie, which stars Tim Daly, is the public's appetite for witnessing and paying to see the execution of a prisoner.

Given that many Americans would welcome the opportunity to see Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh put to death, as he is scheduled to be in May, the premise of the movie has more than a touch of reality to it.

Put something interesting on pay-per-view and people will buy it.

Like the Super Bowl.

Here's the game that epitomizes the country's fascination with big events.

It's grandiose.

It's spectacular.

It's larger than life.

It's an afternoon that stretches into an evening (and sometimes drags into a night) that hardly anyone can ignore. Even if you don't like football or don't care for the participants, the game -- and the parties and social whirlwind that accompany it -- result in a centralized activity that TV and its advertisers milk (or bilk) for millions of dollars.

Sunday, for this year's game between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants, approximately 130 million Americans will sit in various forms of fixation in front of their television sets. Some will question if they're on the right side of the 3-point spread and some will question the green things in their chip dip, but the televising network (CBS) will pay dearly for that audience regardless of its attention span.

Yet the day isn't all that far away when the Super Bowl will be moved off the traditional "free" TV access and moved to pay-per-view. Maybe it's 10 years away, maybe it's 15, but it's coming.

It's inevitable.

And it won't cause the mass rebellion that some may initially suspect or might predict. By the time it happens it will be accepted as a way of life.

Pay-per-view has gradually worked its way into our day-to-day existence and it will become increasingly commonplace within a very short time.

By 2005 or 2010, everything of even slightly above-the-board interest will be on pay-per-view.

Boxing matches, concerts and movies are routinely offered on pay-per-view these days, and the next major sports event to cross the threshold is apt to be the NCAA basketball tournament. Researchers will determine that the audience will be as viable as ever, and the World Series will soon follow.

The dominoes will keep tumbling until the Super Bowl succumbs as well.

The only question is whether advertising and commercials will be part of the transition. In all probability, they will.

Pay-per-view is the wave of the future. Even today with boxing fans routinely shelling out $49.95 for matches that frequently disappoint, pay-per-view has become the cornerstone of that sport.

In time, the additional income it provides will have other sports relying on it for their showcase events.

So enjoy Sunday's game on free TV while you can. And set aside $50 in case Don King works something out with McVeigh.