The usual NFL fan thinks every aspect about the Super Bowl is supposed to be about them, because they are the ones who cared all year, buy the merch, and watch the games. The halftime show is therefore supposed to be someone they like. The NFL views it differently. They want to be known as every year's Big Event for the country and even the world. They want to throw the best party. Next, they want to attract some new fans.
The football fan feels defensive about this. They consider the Super Bowl to be essentially their territory, their party. They earned it. But the NFL brass knows that the fans would be thrilled with highlights from 10 random previous Super Bowls, commented on by someone who knows football. No one else is watching that. There are no new fans there. There's no national party there, only a football party.
The halftime show has more in common with the commercials. Lots of non-fans tune in just for the ads, though these days it is more common for those people to watch them as an entirely separate entity, only distantly related to the game.
The NFL desperately wanted Taylor Swift this year, but there was a dispute about who was going to own the rights to it afterward. Swift doesn't need to bend on such questions, and they need her more than she needs them - except for the precedent of owning the rights, which the NFL felt was a bridge too far. Taylor had already brought in female fans, especially 13-40, a demographic which football is weak in. I never watch the halftime show, but even I might have looked in on it in order to chat about it with my granddaughters. Bad Bunny is not going to bring in nearly as many new fans. But he fits the bill as big this year and a demonstration that the Super Bowl is the country's biggest party.
The football fan wants to be acknowledged as one of the people the party is for, one of the honored guests. Ain't gonna happen.
A random Sunday night at the butt-end of winter in a month with no other public holiday celebrations (nobody over 14 or under 65 is invited to a Valentine's Day party) is a pretty low bar to looking like a big festivity. Some apology for going a bit 'get off my lawn' but I can remember it really being a big national party when the game and the commercials and the half time show were all on regular broadcast TV. As you eluded with the battle over the rebroadcast rights, it is now all dedicated to the residuals and streaming and getting people to pay to view. The NFL is confusing hype and controversy with popularity. They are also likely to find out, like Disney and many other entertainment conglomerates, that people who were fair-weather fans are not likely to become devoted fans regardless of how much you change your product.
ReplyDeleteEthan Strauss calls that hoped-for group of new customers the Undecided Whale, as when Nike chased the female clothing market, or the NBA chases China. Markets do expand and it sometimes works, but mostly it doesn't, and companies that bet too heavily on the whale can be in for a world of hurt.
ReplyDeleteOn the game, since Sam Darnold saw his shadow that means six more months of 'shoulda coulda woulda' from Vikings fans.
ReplyDeleteDarnold was not spectacular, but very efficient and mistake-proof. If that sounds like faint praise, I will note that a lot of very good quarterbacks have been unable to manage to do that in a Super Bowl. Grace under pressure.
ReplyDeleteHis actual performance is irrelevant. He wore purple and white last year, and his new team just won the Super Bowl.
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