Dulles, VA, December 9, 2003 — America Online, the world’s leading interactive service, will be the official presenting sponsor of the ‘The AOL Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show’ produced by MTV and airing on CBS on February 1, 2004, according to an announcement today. AOL is also the official sponsor of the NFL Experience, a week long an interactive theme park in Houston leading up to the Super Bowl that offers games, displays and entertainment activities.
‘We look forward to using the power of AOL to bring the excitement of the Super Bowl closer to the world’s largest audience. We want everyone watching to have the opportunity to own a piece of the day’s entertainment,’ added Len Short, Executive Vice President, Brand Marketing for America Online.
During the Super Bowl, AOL will launch three brand new 30-second commercials, as well as two pre-game spots. In addition, AOL will post its annual Super Bowl Commercial Showcase following the game, which generated a record 5.6 million streams in two days last year. The commercials will air on AOL and AOL.com where millions of viewers can vote on their favorite commercial, as well as experience behind-the-scenes Super Bowl content available nowhere else.
‘We’re pleased AOL is expanding its NFL partnership by sponsoring the Super Bowl halftime show,’ said John Collins, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, NFL. ‘By teaming with AOL, we can make America’s favorite event even more powerful.’
Earlier this year, AOL and the NFL announced an expanded strategic alliance that provides sports fans with unprecedented access to a wide variety of NFL video and audio content through the newly launched NFL@AOL. This initiative marks the first time that NFL comprehensive video — including game-by-game previews and highlights — is available online and for free to AOL for Broadband members.
AOL offers an unprecedented array of audio and video content from America’s top five major professional sports leagues and original programming such as College Sports Buzz@AOL and AOL Sports: 180, a twice daily highlight show featuring the latest news, scores and highlights. With these new initiatives, AOL for Broadband subscribers are receiving a value in the sports category alone that is several times greater than what they pay for the whole service.
NFL AND CBS LOOK TO MTV TO PRODUCE
AOL SUPER BOWL XXXVIII HALFTIME SHOW
New York, NY, December 9, 2003 – The NFL and CBS announced today that MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION has once again been selected to produce the halftime show during Super Bowl XXXVIII, which will be sponsored for the first time by America Online, Inc. Super Bowl XXXVIII will be held on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX and will air on CBS. CBS and MTV are both owned by Viacom, Inc. The lineup of performers and show details will be announced at a later date.
This marks the second time MTV: Music Television will produce a Super Bowl Halftime Show for the NFL. MTV produced the show for Super Bowl XXXV which aired on CBS in 2001 when the Baltimore Ravens beat the New York Giants. More than 130 million Americans watched the game and halftime show, providing CBS one of the most-watched nights in network television history. The Super Bowl XXXV Halftime Show featured Aerosmith and *NSYNC along with special guests Britney Spears, Nelly and Mary J. Blige in front of 75,000 fans at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
‘We set out to revolutionize the production of Super Bowl XXXV’s halftime back in 2001 with a multi-artist performance with unique pairings and we’re still on a tremendous high from pulling that off successfully,’ said Van Toffler, President, MTV/MTV2. ‘We plan on even more unexpected music performances that will go down in halftime history.’
‘We’re pleased to work again with MTV, the leader in live music production,’ said NFL Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales John Collins. ‘We’re looking forward to another MTV spectacular this Super Bowl and with AOL as our halftime show marketing partner, the stage is set for a memorable event.’
‘After experiencing unparalleled success with our halftime show at Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, CBS anticipates a halftime performance that will raise the bar even higher,’ said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports. ‘We look forward to working with MTV, AOL and the NFL on the most watched entertainment spectacle in the world.’
‘We look forward to using the power of AOL to bring the excitement of the Super Bowl closer to the world’s largest audience. We want everyone watching to have the opportunity to own a piece of the day’s entertainment,’ added Len Short, Executive Vice President of Brand Marketing, America Online.
During the Super Bowl, AOL will launch three brand new 30-second commercials, as well as two pre-game spots. In addition, AOL will offer its annual Super Bowl Showcase on AOL and AOL.com where millions of viewers can vote on their favorite Super Bowl commercials after they air and experience behind-the-scenes Super Bowl content available nowhere else.
The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show will be executive produced by Dave Sirulnick and Salli Frattini. Alex Coletti will serve as producer and Beth McCarthy-Miller will direct.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world’s leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, and Spike TV, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.
For more details contact:
Matt Hill
National Football League
Tel: +1 212 450 2000
Fax: +1 212 681 7572
hillm@nfl.com