The National Football League's 2003 opening-day ceremony at the National Mall in Washington DC was a spectacular parade of the gaudy, distasteful, sacrilegious, and gauche. Sponsored by Pepsi Vanilla and including over-the-top concert performances by Britney Spears, Aerosmith, and Aretha Franklin, the NFL season opener between the Washington Redskins and the New York Jets was a mix of Vegas-styled glitz and traditional gridiron.

Washington DC's National Mall is considered by many to be a sacred place-America's most hallowed memorials are there. The decision to turn the grounds into a circus of commercial sponsorship has been questioned by some, and more cynical critics suggest that the event is a payback to Pepsi-Cola for contributing money to political campaigns. The National Football League, however, simply promoted the event as a patriotic salute to the troops.

Some NFL fans think the football games should be entertainment enough without all the commercial hoopla. But big events are just that-events; and the modern corporate mentality says merely staging a game is a wasted marketing opportunity. Given the commercial success of star-studded sponsorships, we are likely to see many more of them.