Should the NFL make their halftime show "addressable"?

Chances are good you watched the Super Bowl this month, including the NFL’s halftime show featuring artist Bad Bunny. It’s estimated that 128.2M tuned in (according to Nielsen).

Or maybe not, because for the first time this year, there was an alternate halftime show streaming online. This conservative alternative show, dubbed the “All-American Halftime Show”, drew an estimated 5-6M live views and approx. 21M total views in the days following. Viewership was well below the Bad Bunny halftime show version, but significant nonetheless.

To be clear, this is not a political post, and I’m not condoning the reason behind an alternate halftime show. That said, in this world of personalization it’s no wonder that, when given a choice, some people chose to watch the conservative halftime show version.

The experience did surface an interesting possibility that the NFL may want to consider – personalized offerings of the much-anticipated halftime show in years to follow.

Think I’m crazy? Consider this…

There are already programming alternatives to the NFL viewing experience. On Monday nights, you can watch the “regular” game with announcers Troy Aikman and Joe Buck on ESPN, or you can watch the more commentary-driven version featuring the Manning brothers on ESPN2. Also new this year was the game option featuring Monsters Inc. commentators targeting kids and families. Across America you can find bars with NFL telecasts and fan experiences catering to a specific team. And finally, let’s not forget the Puppy Bowl, not directly linked to the NFL, but a popular pre-game alternative that’s been around for 21 years.

So perhaps the NFL should glean what it can from this year’s experience, take control, and consider producing and streaming a few halftime shows in the years to come. They can still feature a big artist live during the game but perhaps have a streamed halftime show hosted by each team playing in the big game featuring local artists. Or perhaps a kids/family version, or a country version - the options are endless. And, while the NFL is about amassing large audiences, a different entity picked their pocket this year to the tune of 5-6M viewers, so they’re better off embracing the concept and retaining control of the viewing experience as best they can.

Because what we learned this year, albeit not in the best way, is that when presented options, people will pick the choice that most resonates with them. In this world of personalization, there’s very little one-size-fits-all anymore.