A New Form of Experiential Marketing: A New Jersey Super Bowl!

Yesterday, the NFL announced that New York-New Jersey (New Jersey, actually) will host the 2014 Super Bowl. The landmark deal created quite a buzz in the Synergy Events' hallways yesterday, since our office is less than 50 miles from the new Giants/Jets stadium in East Rutherford.  

Naturally, this decision has sparked debate around the country, as the Giants and Jets will co-host the first Super Bowl in a cold weather environment. Fans will encounter a whole new form of experiential marketing, as cold weather may not only affect the big game, but the fans' experience at and away from the stadium. Clearly, New York City will be the centerpiece of the off-the-field activities, as the NFL's official partners might spend to activate their sponsorships unlike any other Super Bowl in history. Monitoring the guerrilla marketing, which undoubtedly will be spread throughout Manhattan, will be a huge challenge for the marketing team at NFL Headquarters.

The debate about having the Super Bowl in a cold weather environment was interesting to monitor on TV, talk radio and the internet yesterday. I don't buy the theory-supported by former NFL player Mike Golic of ESPN's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" that the weather shouldn't play a factor in the Super Bowl. Well, before the NFL title game was called the Super Bowl, the game was often played in the cold. Regular season and playoff games are obviously still played in the cold. And weather conditions-and not just cold and snow- certainly have been a factor in previous Super Bowls, including the driving rainstorm that marred Super Bowl XLI.

Another weather-related argument is that potential conditions could give a cold-weather team an advantage. Did anybody complain when the Rams and the "Greatest Show on Turf" won an indoor Super Bowl? Clearly, the Rams had an advantage playing that game indoors. Does anybody complain if a cold weather team plays in a Super Bowl against a warm-weather team in a warm climate like Miami or San Diego? These type of perceived "advantages" have taken place at other Super Bowls, just in a different form. And yet nobody has complained.  

I also heard Sal Paolantonio from ESPN yesterday mention that it really won't be a "New York" Super Bowl since the teams will stay and practice in New Jersey. It seemed Sal wasn't too happy about that, since it seems most of his media brethren will probably stay near the sports complex and away from the bright lights of Manhattan so they can cover the teams easily.

I don't think anybody is pretending that this will be an all-New Jersey Super Bowl, as evidenced by the winning "New York-New Jersey" bid and the photo opp in Manhattan yesterday with New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck and New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. (Photo: New York Post).  

From the players' perspective, I heard a couple of different points of view yesterday.  Tuck told WFAN in New York that the game "could be played on Mars" and most players wouldn't care. (I thought Tuck did an very nice job talking about how the game is great for New York-New Jersey. Kudos to the Giants and/or NFL PR staff). On the opposite end, Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs was worried that the experience wouldn't be great since the game is "primarily for the fans" and shouldn't be played "in 20 below weather."  Actually, he's wrong on both counts, especially if he's talking about hard-core fans.  It's well-known that the Super Bowl crowd is more corporate, but if hard-core fans get to see their favorite team in the Super Bowl, do you think they will care how cold it is? I know I wouldn't. (And it most certainly won't be "20 below" as Suggs said. (The average high temperature for that time of year in New Jersey is above freezing).

From Synergy's standpoint, we're very excited that Super Bowl XLVIII will happen in our backyard. We've worked with dozens of partners over the years to activate their sponsorships at the Super Bowl, Olympics, World Cup, Daytona 500, NCAA men's Final 4, Breeders Cup and US Open, among many other high-profile sports events. Whether or not those experiential activations take place in New Jersey or in New York City, we are looking forward to partnering with brands as the Super Bowl comes to our home state!