Why the NFL Books Bad Bunny: Audience Growth Play (Full Transcript)
[00:00:00] Speaker 1: This year and last year, you have two artists guaranteed controversy, but also two artists that everyone is talking about. I mean, Kendrick and that Drake beef dominated us last year, right? Like, we talked about it constantly and consistently.
[00:00:14] Speaker 2: It feels like the NFL is on the vein of culture.
[00:00:16] Speaker 1: It does. Or at least trying to. At least trying to be. I think what it is is that the NFL is fully aware that they need these artists more than those artists need the NFL.
[00:00:26] Speaker 2: Wait a minute, that's a mic drop moment right there. It's real. You're saying the NFL needs Bad Bunny more than Bad Bunny needs the NFL.
[00:00:32] Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely. Tell me more. Because we see with the NFL that they have been trying to broaden their audience to make them more international. So, of course, you take the biggest international superstar there is and you put him on that stage because you are bringing Bad Bunny to the world. But guess what? A lot of the world already knows who Bad Bunny is. Yeah.
[00:00:51] Speaker 2: It's like with a lot of Latinos, for example, Spanish speakers, they know football, but we're talking soccer. And now the NFL is wanting to bring them to American football. I think this moment is much more so about the people who turn on the channel during the halftime show than those who are already watching from the pregame on. This is good business for the NFL. It is. And it's about the dollar signs. They know that there's over 68 million Latinos in the United States. There's over 40 million people who speak Spanish. So it's about attracting a new customer base, like the same way you would see with any other product, except the product here is football.
- The NFL leverages headline-making artists to maintain cultural relevance and drive conversation.
- The league is positioned as needing superstar performers more than the performers need the NFL platform.
- Booking global stars like Bad Bunny supports the NFL’s international and multicultural growth goals.
- Halftime shows primarily target non-traditional viewers who tune in for entertainment, aiming to convert them into fans.
- Latino and Spanish-speaking populations are viewed as a major market opportunity, motivating programming decisions.