NFL Already Worried About Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show

noah | February 26, 2007 2:02 am

The NFL is apparently figuring that there’s only one way to top this year’s completely epic performance by Prince at this year’s Super Bowl, and that’s to bring in The Boss. From Variety:

Bruce Springsteen and Norah Jones are at the top of the list. The NFL is hoping the recent successes of Prince, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney can be used as leverage to bring in the Boss while Jones would be ideal to sing the National Anthem during the pregame ceremonies, according to NFL VP of programming Charles Coplin.

The league is starting to approach performers “earlier than ever before in our history,” said Coplin. “The music business is going through some hard times. Performers care deeply about their album sales, and an appearance on the Super Bowl can move the needle dramatically.”

Coplin points to the sales that followed Prince’s performance at this year’s Super Bowl. His overall album sales in the follow-ing week more than doubled to 31,000 and his digital downloads rose to 102,000 from 59,000.

While we’re pretty sure that a performance by Springsteen would be nearly as epic as Prince’s (maybe he can throw in a cover of “Big Me,” just for good measure?), we have to wonder just what the NFL would decide to do for the next Super Bowl, because the “how-can-you-top-that” Monday morning chatter will surely be in full force should the Boss play. Clearly, the only solution to that speculation is the announcement of an endless U2/Prince/Springsteen cycle until at least Super Bowl L, when the downgrading of expectations from “extra large” to merely “large” will usher in an era where the 3-D Elvis concept becomes acceptable once again.

Inside Move: NFL on star search [Variety]