Saturday, January 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Super Bowl myths dispelled

Statistics don't support domestic violence rumors, police say

Pat and Jerry Mountin of Ashippun, Wis., who have been coming to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend for 25 years, take in the action Friday at the Mandalay Bay race and sports book. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Las Vegas police Lt. Brad Simpson wants to set the record straight about domestic violence on Super Bowl Sunday: The despicable crime does not peak on the day of America's most watched sports spectacle.

"It's a myth," said Simpson, a police veteran who heads the department's domestic violence unit.

Simpson doesn't know how the rumors started or why they have persisted across the country for so long. But statistics compiled by Las Vegas police support his contention and dispel one of the biggest myths associated with the big game.

Last year on Super Bowl Sunday, 45 incidents of domestic violence were reported. An average Sunday in Las Vegas in 2002 had 53 domestic violence incidents.

In 2001, 54 people reportedly were attacked during domestic disturbances on Super Bowl Sunday. That was five more than the average Sunday for that year, according to police figures, but far from the most violent day of the year in Las Vegas households.

In 2000, 42 incidents of domestic violence were reported, mirroring the average for all Sundays. And in 1999, 30 such assaults were reported on Super Bowl Sunday, nine fewer than the average Sunday that year.

For five consecutive years, Sunday has proved to be the most dangerous day of the week for domestic violence in Las Vegas, police said. Sgt. Lori Crickett said a high number of those batteries occur during the early morning hours, after alcohol and drugs have been consumed by the abusers.

And, the beatings usually rise at the onset of hot weather, Simpson said.

Although Super Bowl Sunday doesn't exacerbate domestic violence, the game historically livens the pulse of the nation's economy.

More than 100 million Americans are expected to huddle together to watch the Bucs and Raiders battle this weekend. So revered is the contest that Super Bowls comprise about half of the nation's 50 most-watched television broadcasts ever.

Every year, more and more Americans dish out big bucks so they can experience the big game on a big-screen television. Sales of jumbo television sets, which can be 65 inches wide and cost more than $3,000, usually peak in January.

Sears at the Meadows mall already has sold $125,000 worth of big-screen televisions, a 70 percent increase over last year, said Assistant Manager Bonnie Crumpler, who oversees electronics and appliances.

Crumpler is hesitant to give Super Bowls a big share of the credit, pointing out that most customers don't cite the Super Bowl when they make their purchase.

But "if they couldn't get delivery by (Super Bowl) Sunday, they had a problem with that," Crumpler said of the buyers.

Crumpler said large crowds actually gather inside Sears and watch the Super Bowl on a row of big-screen televisions. She surmised that most in the crowds have been husbands who somehow had been dragged to the shopping mall with their wives.

Frozen pizza sales are usually at their height in January, and Super Bowl Sunday is a big reason why, according to the National Frozen Pizza Institute.

Domino's Pizza also has one of its three busiest days of the year, behind Halloween and New Year's Eve, said Chad Woster, a district manager for Domino's Pizza in Las Vegas. Woster said a Domino's franchise that generally produces 1,500 pizzas in a day will double that output on Super Bowl Sunday.

At Lee's Discount Liquor in Summerlin, the store will sell as many kegs, about 20, during Super Bowl weekend as it normally does during a two-week period, said manager Gerardo Salinas.