Sometimes it is easy to take the NFL’s marketing genius for granted. After all, it is the behemoth, the 800-lb gorilla of American sports and culture, dominating television ratings, demanding astronomical rights fees, parceling out games to the most broadly distributed streaming platforms, and increasing its already high avidity levels through its embrace first of fantasy sports and now sports wagering.
People viewing the NFL’s halftime show choice of Bad Bunny through politics are largely missing the point. For the league, the potential gains in global audience were more than worth the risk of offending some uptight US residents. Take it from someone who watched Sunday’s Super Bowl in Spanish from a beach town in central Costa Rica throughthe Latin America feed produced by ESPN Deportes via Disney+. I have family here, so this was my third time over the last decade watching the game while out of the country.
No disrespect to the Seahawks and my beloved Patriots — the game was a dud — but the international interest level was off the charts due in large part to Benito.
Social media across Latin America exploded with Benito Bowl memes. In addition to that massive lift in awareness, local promotion was ubiquitous. Here, in a country dominated by its interest in futbol, not football, you can usually find the Super Bowl at a handful of hotels and sports bars that cater to US tourists, but not this year. Watch parties. Major sponsor activations and food specials. Signs with hand-painted images of the team helmets on bar and restaurant facades. Even Banco Costa Rica offered sweepstakes in December with the prize of game tickets, hotel stay and round-trip travel to San Francisco.
The ESPN Deportes production was professional and felt less rushed than typical U.S. telecasts. The production team knew that they’d have some first-time viewers. They served the Spanish-speaking world (ranked second globally with 486 million native speakers) a three-hour infomercial on American football wrapped around the halftime show, complete with reminders that the league will play nine games at international venues next season, including how to buy tickets for the Mexico City game.
And on top of the blatant commercialism, with Bad Bunny’s show almost entirely in Spanish, the NFL created the one thing that brands can’t buy — an abundance of goodwill. If you won’t take my word for it, watch this clip of ESPN Deportes reporter John Sutcliffe trying to contain his emotions. The people I watched the game with shared Sutcliffe’s feelings. It was palpable.
Bad Bunny’s performance may have generated a lot of cogent political and cultural commentary, pero fue una actuación de marketing magistral.