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Yet Another Super Bowl Offering
Yesterday a British rock band offered the NFL $2 million to play the Super Bowl halftime show and much more money if the game is played by “English football rules.” Now Hard Rock International is pitching the NFL with a recent signing to the company’s record label.
Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that the NFL is considering making acts kick in a percentage of their post-Super Bowl touring profits for the privilege of playing the most-watched music gig of the year. After all, the 11-plus minutes a band rocks the Super Bowl is time that could be sold to sponsors. In other words, the NFL evidently feels that the game’s halftime show is free ad time for tours and albums.
According to the Journal, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Coldplay are being considered as possible candidates for the NFL’s new revenue channel.
In an open letter to the NFL, Brit band You Me At Six offered to pay $2 million dollars to play the halftime show, $10 million if the league allowed a band member to quarterback “a set of downs” and $40 million if the game is played by “English football rules.”
Now Hard Rock International’s chief marketing officer, John Galloway, has written a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell extolling the benefits of having The Carnabys play the halftime gig. The company may not be offering as much money as You Me At Six, but it’s not asking for any rule changes either. Instead, Hard Rock International is offering to donate $1 million dollars to the NFL’s charity of choice in exchange for The Carnabys to headline next year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
“The Carnabys are no strangers to playing for a crowd,” Galloway wrote. “They opened for Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling last summer at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and brought the house down at this summer’s Hard Rock Live event in Rome. They’ve proven to be an international hit wowing crowds throughout Europe and are up [to] the challenge of rocking the Super Bowl.”
Sure, Galloway’s letter may just be a stunt to raise awareness for The Carnabys, and we’re sure the band would deliver a very entertaining set. But if the NFL follows through on having artists kick in a portion of future touring revenues to headline Super Bowl halftime shows, they may discover that the ones willing to pay may not necessarily be the acts TV viewers want see play.