By RYAN GRILLE

As the championship game of the NFL, the Super Bowl is easily the biggest sports event of the year. Not surprisingly, this results in a massive amount of attention from news media outlets.

This year, the big game saw the New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, making it the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever. Naturally, the sports media reported on the game and the athletes involved, especially Tom Brady. But, of course, there is more to the Super Bowl than just the game.

The halftime show sponsored by Pepsi saw pop band Maroon 5 performing alongside rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi. There was also a surprise appearance by the characters of SpongeBob SquarePants in memory of the show’s creator Stephen Hillenburg. The entertainment media widely reported on the performance, including several articles commenting on singer Adam Levine revealing his nipples on stage. Several articles also commented on the quality of this show, many discussing it in a negative light.

Most bizarrely, however, was the news media reporting on the various Super Bowl commercials. Several articles commented on the ads, including debating which ads they enjoyed and which ones did not work.

This may seem trivial, but there are reasons why the news media would want to report on both the halftime show and on the advertising. Not only are several news outlets connected to the corporations that provided the advertising, but these articles are also written with the awareness that these topics are of major interest to viewers.

Put it simply, the news outlets are simply writing these articles in order to generate revenue. While these topics may seem big now, they are soon quickly forgotten until next year’s Super Bowl and serve as nothing more than a distraction to bigger and more important issues.