Super Bowl Ads : Miller Lite Product Testing

I don't know why you need a beer that can survive a drop off of a building; but apparently, this commercial thinks' it's important to you.

This is why it's a bad idea to let a guy named "Dick" who looks like the guy in the picture at the beginning come up with your ads.

Maxim Spreading Super Bowl 2011 Love

Maxim Super Bowl 2011 party plans to be a huge event.

Maxim magazine is spreading the Super Bowl XLV love. Along with the annual invite only Super Bowl party, which will be based in Dallas, TX this year, Maxim will host 3 other parties and connect via satellite to create the feel of one over the top party.

The main event, on Saturday, Feb 5th, will be at Fair Park’s Centennial Hall in Dallas. The theme will be State Fair with adult flair. I wonder if there will be a petting zoo along with the rides. Maxim is known for their over-the-top Super Bowl parties, and though details are minimal at this point, they surely won’t disappoint at this star studded event.

On Friday, Feb 4th, three smaller events will occur simultaneously in Fort Lauderdale’s Vibe Ultra Music Lounge, Spy Bar in Chicago, and Stingaree in San Diego. Hosting the Ft Lauderdale event is Maxim Home Town Hottie Lisa Morales of Aventura, with “Deco Drive” Shireen Sandoval.

Last year’s party thrown at Raleigh Hotel on Miami Beach attracted celebrities Brody Jenner, Audrina Partridge, Lo Bosworth, Kristin Cavallari and Stephanie Pratt from “The Hills.” Olivia Munn, Shawn and Keenan Ivory Wayans, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo were also on the scene. Owner of the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones and Evander Holyfield even made appearances.

Friday, Feb 4th:

Vibe Ultra Music Lounge / 301 E. Las Olas Blvd / Ft Lauderdale, FL

Spy Bar / 646 N Franklin St / Chicago, IL

Stingaree / 454 6th Ave / San Diego, CA

Main Event Saturday, Feb 5th:

Fair Park’s Centennial Building / Dallas, TX

Teams Are Unknown, but Super Bowl Spots Line Up

PEOPLE who plan to watch Super Bowl XLV on Fox on Feb. 6 are likely to be, to borrow a word from the gossipmonger Walter Winchell, infanticipating.

When Winchell coined the word, he meant that a couple was expecting a baby. In 2011, it means that potential Super Bowl viewers are expecting to see — in addition to a football game — a batch of busy, glossy new commercials infused with time-tested entertainment elements like celebrities, animals, attractive young women and yes, babies.

Critics deride such content as corny or predictable. AdAge.com, the Web site of the trade publication Advertising Age, mocked conventions of Super Bowl advertising on Thursday by asking readers to “vote for your favorite Super Bowl simian spot” among eight choices.

But commercials that are replete with mainstays or memes are meant to appeal to the mass audience that tunes in each year for the Super Bowl. Last year, 106.5 million people watched the game, according to Nielsen, setting a record for viewership for an American television program.

“I’ve seen the estimates” for Super Bowl XLV, said Nick Utton, chief marketing officer at the New York office of the E*Trade Financial Group, “and 110 million is very definitely within reach.”

So it is not surprising that E*Trade, which has featured “talking” babies in its Super Bowl spots for the last three years, will bring the characters back again.

“We don’t presuppose each year we’ll be in the following year’s Super Bowl,” Mr. Utton said, because the expense and scrutiny mean “it’s not for the faint of heart.”

Still, the game is “the only event of the year where advertising is not the uninvited guest,” he added, and when “commercials come on, people stop talking.”

E*Trade intends to run one commercial in the third quarter of the game and another immediately after the game ends. Plans also call for a baby to “talk” with Fox Sports during a segment of the pregame show.

The commercials are part of an elaborate campaign that also includes social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube; commercials in movie theaters; and a redesigned version of BabyMail, an e-mail service introduced last year.

E*Trade and its agency, Grey New York, are deciding between two commercials for the two slots. One spot features a baby who does well enough investing through Etrade.com that he can afford a tailor — and the tailor is not doing too badly, either.

The other spot presents “a very educated baby,” Mr. Utton said, “discussing the merits of E*Trade” with a character that he declined to identify until next week, when the cat may be let out of the bag.

The baby was introduced for the 2008 Super Bowl to illustrate that using Etrade.com is “so easy, a baby can do it,” Mr. Utton said, and for Year Four the message is “that we empower investors through technology, so they can take control.”

Mr. Utton acknowledged “there are skeptics out there” who question the value of commercials with familiar elements like babies, animals or scantily-clad celebrities.

As a result, “we want our baby to grow,” he added, “not physically, but metaphorically.”

Tor Myhren, president and chief creative officer at Grey New York, said he, too, has “heard the argument” against the tried and true in Super Bowl advertising.

“With the baby, we created a celebrity,” Mr. Myhren said, rather than borrowing the fame “from someone else.”

“As long as everyone says ‘the E*Trade baby,’ I know we’re doing our job,” he added. Grey New York is part of the Grey unit of the Grey Group, owned by WPP.

Fox, part of the News Corporation, has sold all the available commercial time during Super Bowl XLV for an estimated $2.8 million to $3 million for each 30 seconds.

Demand was stronger than usual, reflecting the recovery of the ad market along with the record ratings last year.

Among the brands and companies to appear in the game, in addition to E*Trade, are Anheuser-Busch InBev, Audi, Best Buy, BMW, Bridgestone, CareerBuilder, CarMax, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, General Motors, GoDaddy.com, HomeAway, Hyundai, Kia, Mars, Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo, Pizza Hut, Skechers, Teleflora and Volkswagen.

Several advertisers are buying more than one spot. BMW, for instance, will run two, for models that include the new X3 compact sport utility.

The Anheuser-Busch division of Anheuser-Busch InBev will run five spots for three beer brands: Bud Light, Budweiser and a Super Bowl rookie, Stella Artois.

Two agencies — DDB Worldwide, which is part of the Omnicom Group, and Cannonball in St. Louis — are creating three 30-second commercials for Bud Light.

A 60-second spot for Budweiser, part of a new campaign that carries the theme “Grab some Buds,” is being created by a New York agency named Anomaly.

And a 60-second spot for Stella Artois is being created by the London and New York offices of Mother.

Anheuser-Busch is well-known for Super Bowl commercials that use mainstay creative content like animals and celebrities.

This time around, the commercial for the Budweiser brand “may be doing things a little bit of a different way,” said David Peacock, president at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, because the “Grab some Buds” campaign is “driving reappraisal” — that is, it seeks to get consumers who do not usually drink Budweiser to reconsider the brand.

Adult Dating Service during Super Bowl 2011 Ads rejected

In addition to being the biggest event of the year for NFL football fans, online betting sites and companies that sell beer and potato chips, the Super Bowl is the biggest event of the year for the advertising industry.  TV commercial spots on the broadcast of the game sell for millions and the companies that buy them go all out to create memorable ads in hopes of creating ‘buzz’.  The impact on sales of a Super Bowl commercial buy is debatable, but it’s definitely a way to raise brand awareness.

Some companies, however, submit commercials that they *know* will be rejected by the network covering the game (Fox TV this year).  They can then plug the ad online as being ‘too hot for the Super Bowl’ and hope it’ll ‘go viral’ which often brings the same name recognition benefits without the multi-million dollar outlay.  Domain name service Go Daddy is famous for this concept, and a commercial from their company that is ‘too hot for TV’ has become an annual tradition.

Most recently, the semi-infamous adult dating website Ashley Madison appears to have stolen a page from the Go Daddy playbook.  They submitted an ad to Fox TV which rejected it.  The network has ‘no commented’ the reason for the rejection other than to say that their department of “standards and practices has deemed the Ashley Madison spot is not acceptable to air on FOX.”  The CEO of Toronto based Ashley Madison, Noel Biderman, responded with the sort of feigned incredulity you’d expect from a pro wrestling ‘heel’ caught using a foreign object.

Call me cynical, but from the looks of it the *last* thing that Ashley Madison wanted was for the commercial to be accepted.  In fact, it looked like they went out of their way to make sure it *wouldn’t* get approved by the Fox TV censors.  The Ashley Madison concept is pretty sleazy to begin with–basically, they’re a dating site for married couples looking to have an affair.   Of course what is sleazy to one person might not be to another and in that regard Ashley Madison is just filling market demand–they claim 7.3 million registered users.  All are adults who no doubt would be ‘trolling for skank’ elsewhere if they weren’t on Ashley Madison so as distasteful as I may find it I can’t blame the site from profiting from it.  The real source of the sleaze is the millions of people in sham marriages, not Ashley Madison’s role in filling a need demanded by this market.  It’s not any different than print personal ads of the previous generation.

Credit to Biderman–he’s decided to use the implication of sleaze from the media and general public to his marketing benefit.  Rather than deny that they serve a market of unfaithful spouses, Biderman et. al. have embraced it with a slogan that makes it clear what is going on:  ”Life is Short. Have an Affair.”  The company didn’t use their catch phrase in the commercial rejected by Fox TV, but they didn’t pull any punches either creating a clip that suggests (albeit humorously) girl-on-girl action, bestiality and a ‘furry’ fetish for good measure.  And just to put the icing on their cake full o’ sleaze they cast a porno star–Savanna Samson–in the clip.  That gave Biderman the opportunity to suggest with a straight face that porn skanks are suffering discrimination.

For now, it remains to be seen how effective the Ashley Madison strategy will be but it’s definitely a more cost effective way of getting some brand recognition.  A lot of media outlets are reporting it–some taking sides on ‘free speech’ or ‘decency’ grounds but as of this writing it’s not exactly exploding across the Internet.  A quick check of the usual trend metrics–Twitter ‘Trending Topics’, Google/Yahoo search results, Digg–showed no mention of it whatsoever.  Then again, it could ‘heat up’ tomorrow.

Personally, it’s not something I lose a lot of sleep about one way or the other and there are no ‘free speech’ implications at play here whatsoever.  Fox is a business and they’ve got a right to accept or reject advertising as they see fit.  I found the infamous Tim Tebow/His mom ad that soft pedaled the message of a fundamentalist nutjob organization offensive, but CBS had every right to air it.  And Fox has every right not to air the Ashley Madison ad for the same reason.  It offends me that the horse racing network TVG airs infomercials for penis pumps in the middle of the night–actually it doesn’t so much offend me as gross me out–but they’ve got every right to do so.  It’s the sign you’ll see in coffee shops and 7-11′s ‘We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone’ writ large.  Some people are making the point about the hypocrisy since the game could feature either a quarterback accused of sexual assault and suspended for his generally sleazy behavior or a head coach who’s an all but confirmed foot fetish and who’s wife all but certainly makes sleazy videos for fun and/or profit.  But hypocrisy from the NFL is nothing new–they continue to maintain that SuperBowl betting has nothing to do with the game’s popularity despite copious evidence to the contrary.

Besides, Ashley Madison will just do what they did last year and go after the local affiliates who also have a time allotment to sell during the Super Bowl.  They did this in 2009 after NBC rejected their spot nationally and you can all breathe a sigh of relief since they’re just going to do the same thing this year according to Biderman.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees wins 2011 Bart Starr Award

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been named the recipient of the 2011 Bart Starr Award. The award, which is selected by fellow NFL players, honors one player for outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.

Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees

Bart Starr will present the award to Brees at the 24th annual NFL-sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast on Saturday, Feb. 5. The breakfast, presented by Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, will take place at 8 a.m. at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas (1501 Gaylord Trail). Past winners of the award include Kurt Warner, Warrick Dunn, LaDainian Tomlinson, Darren Woodson, Anthony Munoz, Reggie White and Steve Largent.

The other finalists for the 2011 award were Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver, Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher and Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten.

Brees has been racking up the accolades over the past year, beginning with his MVP performance in Super Bowl XLIV. He was also named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year and the Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year, in addition to a handful of ESPN ESPY awards. He also won a fan vote for the cover of EA Sports' popular Madden video game, wrote a best-selling autobiography and became a pitchman in several TV and print advertisements.

Kantar: Super Bowl Ad Time Up 27% Since 2001

In accordance with its stature as America’s greatest secular holiday, the Super Bowl has been super-sized. Over the course of the last decade, ad time in the NFL’s showcase game has soared 27 percent, as commercial spots and network promos have expanded from a total of 82 in 2001 to 104 in Super Bowl XLIV.  
According to research from Kantar Media, CBS’ Jan. 28, 2001, presentation of Super Bowl XXXV featured 40 minutes and 15 seconds of commercial messaging; but for a few retrograde years, the allotment of spots has steadily increased.   

Last year’s Saints-Colts battle on CBS was punctuated by 47 minutes and 50 seconds of ads and network promos. In terms of quantifiable airtime, that 2,870-second load marked an 18 percent time differential versus the Giants-Ravens blowout 10 years earlier.   

Viewers who tuned in for the last 10 Super Bowl broadcasts were exposed to a whopping 425 minutes of commercial time, per Kantar, which estimated the total value of that load at around $1.62 billion.   
That the average price of a Super Bowl spot keeps increasing is old news to even the most casual football fan, although the rate of change over the last decade is worth noting. In 2001, a 30-second spot cost around $2.2 million, which led CBS to rake in $136.4 million in ad sales revenue. Two years ago, the cost of reaching the 98.7 million consumers who tuned in for the Steelers-Cardinals showdown was pegged at an historic $3 million a pop, an increase of 36 percent from 2001 levels.
 
As paid advertising has steadily bulked up, the same principle has held true with network promos. Back in 2006, ABC ran 7 minutes and 20 seconds’ worth of in-house promos, accounting for nearly 17 percent of its total load. At an estimated $2.5 million per 30 seconds, that inventory was worth some $36.7 million.

Super Bowl 2011: Does Anyone Think the Chicago Bears Have a Chance?

In a Super Bowl field as wide open as any in recent memory, the Chicago Bears have somehow found the shadows of obscurity. The Packers, Jets and Steelers can play the disrespect card as a means of motivation, but with the Bears, the lack of love seems more tangible. Despite hosting Sunday’s NFC Championship against Green Bay, a team Chicago has beaten once this season, the Bears are four-point underdogs, according to Bodog.com.
 
The spread seems narrow, but at the same time so cavernous for a game between the two oldest rivals in professional football, who have never met in the playoffs outside of a 1941 encounter to decide the old NFL Championship. But the blatant disregard for the Bears extends beyond Las Vegas. In his weekly Monday column, Sports Illustrated writer Peter King ranked Chicago fifth among his top 15 teams. For clarity, at the time King penned his words, the Jets had long since trimmed the playoff field to four with their win over New England, which King inserted one slot above the Bears at No. 4.  

You punch a ticket to the conference championship, yet still take a back seat to a team that will be watching the rest of the playoffs from home.  

Ouch.  

Of course, you won’t find many sympathizers in Green Bay, New York or Pittsburgh. Opposing fans are too busy claiming their own teams are getting the snub. At this point, it seems the only people—save for the population of Illinois and maybe, just maybe, scattered areas in the southernmost parts of Wisconsin—that give the Bears a fighting chance are Barack Obama and reality television star Kristin Cavallari, who is equally invested in the success of Jay Cutler, but for completely different reasons.
 
Maybe it’s because the Bears don’t play the most exciting brand of football. Built primarily on defense, Chicago mirrors a team like the Jets, with one huge exception: Lovie Smith is nooooo Rex Ryan, at least in terms of psychological warfare. Cutler is a fine quarterback, but he has two fewer rings and less cachet than Ben Roethlisberger and is no Aaron Rodgers, who just last week, with a “Brett Favre Successor” label taped to his back, completed 86 percent of his passes to set a team postseason record.  

Maybe roles would be reversed, believe it or not, if the Bears were playing at Lambeau. Chicago lost its season finale at Green Bay, but that was one of only two losses away from Soldier Field, where the Bears lost three of eight during the regular season. Maybe it’s the way inauspicious nature in which Chicago was seemingly handed a 20-17 win in Week 3 against Green Bay, which committed a franchise-record 19 penalties to wipe out a sizeable differential in total yards, especially through the air.
 
Or maybe it is being perceived, through no fault of their own, that the Bears have traveled the least rocky postseason road to get to this point. Both the Jets and Packers have won consecutive road games to reach the conference championship as a Wild Card, toppling the top seed in the process. The Steelers, albeit off a bye week, orchestrated a spirited second-half comeback against a Baltimore team that had won 13 games. Meanwhile, the Bears are perhaps marred by the distinction of being the ones responsible for dispatching the first ever sub-.500 playoff team in the history of the game. There’s no sexiness in that. Whatever the reasons behind the Bears getting the shaft, none of it will matter on Sunday. I predicted Chicago will lose to Green Bay, but I know no more than anybody else. The Bears are a solid overall team, stout against the run, and excel at creating scoring opportunities through special teams.  

With no clear-cut favorite to clutch the Lombardi Trophy at Cowboys Stadium next month, the Bears are as capable as the other three teams. That doesn’t mean they will. But that doesn’t mean they won’t either, although some people have them written off already.

Jay Cutler NFL Playoffs and Kristin Cavallari

Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears) and Kristin Cavallari dating heats up today’s headlines. While Cutler and his Bears are one game away from the Super Bowl, Cavallari is confessing her love for the QB.  It seems that on Saturday night, Kristin Cavallari celebrated her 24th birthday in Las Vegas minus her man, Jay Cutler.  Of course Cutler had a great reason to miss her birthday as he was preparing for his NFL Playoffs game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Hot And Sexy Kristin Cavallari Photo Shoot!

Right now, while Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler are all in love that is the least of his worries. Cutler and the Chicago Bears are one game away from the 2011 Super Bowl. Next week they will face Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in what will surely be one hell of a game. I am sure that if Cutler and Da Bears head to the Super Bowl former star of The Hills, Kristin Cavallari will be there cheering him on.

We want to wish the Cutler-Cavallari relationship the best of luck.

Wiz Khalifa: Coachella 2011 and Steelers vs. Jets

Wiz Khalifa joins the 2011 Coachella Music Festival lineup and prepares for the NFL Playoffs this weekend. Khalifa will be rooting for Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers as they take on Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets this Sunday in the AFC Championship game.

Last week when the Steelers took on their bitter rivals the Baltimore Ravens, Wiz Khalifa took to Twitter to support his team. Of course we can’t forget to mention that Khalifa’s hit single “Black and Yellow” has pretty much become the Pittsburgh Steelers anthem. I am sure that Wiz will be taking to Twitter once again as his Steelers go up against the Jets for a spot in the Super Bowl.

On top of his involvement in the NFL Playoffs, Wiz Khalifa has also been added to the 2011 Coachella Music Festival lineup. I don’t want to jinx anything but IF the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New York Jets this Sunday, Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” single is going to be the anthem for the Super Bowl. It really does look like 2011 will be a great year for the newest rapper to hit the scene.

Make sure you tune in this Sunday for the AFC Championship Game (Steelers-Jets) at 6:30|5:30c on CBS.

Chicago Bears used trade, free agency to build their road to NFC championship game

Whenever an NFL team trades prized early-round draft choices for a player, or spends big money in free agency to make a high-profile addition, some football traditionalists scoff at the idea of building a contender that way. Quite often, they're right. But not always, as the Chicago Bears have demonstrated by reaching Sunday's NFC title game.  

The Bears made moves over the past two offseasons that irked traditionalists, trading a handsome package of draft picks to the Denver Broncos for quarterback Jay Cutler in 2009 and signing free agent defensive end Julius Peppers to a lucrative contract last March. The Bears have made that roster-building formula work for them; they'll host the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field late Sunday afternoon with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake.
 
Even so, Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo said Wednesday he wasn't trying to change conventional NFL wisdom about how to assemble a successful team. "To me, these are aberrations," Angelo said in a telephone interview. "I don't look at it like we changed our model." The Bears chose to buck convention, Angelo said, because they regarded Cutler and Peppers as the sort of proven, potentially fortune-changing players who aren't available often.
 
"We all know the impact of a quarterback, even more so in today's game than 10 or 15 years ago," Angelo said. "In Tampa [where Angelo worked in the Buccaneers' front office], we had a lot of success but we usually sort of played around the quarterback position. I came here, and we were in kind of the same position. We had some success. We even got to the Super Bowl in '06. But that's very difficult to do.
 
"When the opportunity to get Cutler came along, here was a guy who was a great talent and established at the NFL level," Angelo said. "We said, 'How do you put a price on that?' Looking back, we would do it exactly the same. With Peppers, you don't see it happen very often that a player like that is available. The closest thing, I think, is you have to go back to Reggie White."  

The Washington Redskins have been sharply criticized in recent years for spending lavishly in free agency and trading away draft picks but achieving little success in return. The Redskins continued to struggle after signing defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth to a then-record free-agent contract and trading draft choices for quarterback Donovan McNabb. But people around the league said the Bears' results show that such an approach can produce on-field rewards if the trades are wise and the free-agent money is well spent.  

"The message it sends is there's more than one way to do it," Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian said this week. "I think Jerry and Lovie [Smith, the Bears' coach], particularly Jerry, have done a magnificent job putting this team together. The thing it says to me is that the McCaskey family [which owns the team] and Jerry and Lovie have stayed the course and they've been rewarded for it. You know, there were a lot of hard times there in between. And they've stayed the course, and they've gotten it right."
 
Cleveland Browns President Mike Holmgren said the Cutler and Peppers moves paid off for the Bears in part because the rest of their roster already was close to a championship-caliber team.

Super Bowl planners ready for potential Obama visit

 If planning a Super Bowl were a TV show, Frank Supovitz would call it NFL Supreme Makeover. The vice president of events for the NFL was giving a tour of the work being done at Cowboys Stadium on Wednesday, dressed casually in shirt and slacks and a Super Bowl XLV vest. Even a state-of-the-art, 2-year-old stadium is subject to "massive" changes to accommodate the biggest single-day sports event in the country, and Supovitz is overseeing the transformation.
 
Everything is progressing on time, he said, although that doesn't mean there aren't challenges. "Every day there is a curveball, and we check it off and move on to the next curveball," he said. The latest unexpected development is the prospect that President Obama could attend the Feb. 6 game if his Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.  

Supovitz smiled when asked and said, "I've heard that."
 
"We will coordinate with the Secret Service, which already has a presence in the Super Bowl," he said, "and add additional details to our plan. We may have to change some procedures and add assets, but we will deal with it." No sitting president has ever attended a Super Bowl game. But Supovitz appeared unfazed by the potential appearance by the commander in chief as he talked about changes in a stadium under construction for a second time.  

He pointed out the temporary seats that are almost all installed. He noted that the playing field is an alternate field the Cowboys had in stock and said it will be painted with the Super Bowl logo and names of the teams soon after the NFC and AFC championships on Sunday. Supovitz walked out the east end of the stadium, where the outside plaza will accommodate "several thousand" season ticketholders who will watch the game on video screens. And he explained how it's possible for fans not physically inside the stadium to count as part of the attendance - making it possible for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to realize his dream of breaking the Super Bowl attendance record of 103,985.  

"Actually, this was an original concept, elements of which were proposed in the bid," Supovitz said. "The party plaza is within the stadium campus, and you need a ticket to get in the perimeter. That is the same as it is for every game here. The difference is that during the regular season, ticketed fans can all walk in the building. "It's like having a grounds pass to the U.S. Open tennis," he added. "You can watch matches on other courts, but a grounds pass doesn't allow you inside the stadium."
 
Supovitz said that the league ran the plan past its broadcast partners because paying to watch the game in offsite venues is not allowed. He said the fact that the video screens in the outside plaza are already in place and used during the Cowboys season makes them part of the regular stadium experience. Earlier this week, representatives of the final four playoff teams were in North Texas, visiting the team hotels in Fort Worth and Irving, practice facilities at TCU, SMU and Highland Park High and getting an extensive tour of Cowboys Stadium.
 
Weather cooperating
 
What would a visit with Supovitz be without a discussion of the weather?
 
It was a bit chilly and windy in North Texas on Wednesday, but those would be ideal conditions for the Feb. 6 game beneath the Cowboys Stadium roof. He allayed any fears that an ice or snow storm would postpone the game, as happened late in the regular season in Philadelphia. "That wasn't a snowstorm but a blizzard," Supovitz said, describing it as the difference between a rain shower and a hurricane. "Here for the Super Bowl, we are working with the Host Committee and TxDot (the Texas Department of Transportation) in a coordinated effort to clear routes to the stadium. And we are bringing assets from other parts of the state to help clear snow or ice. "I'm not trying to tempt Mother Nature, but our objective is to play any game on the day it is scheduled."

Super Bowl 2011 Movie Ads Announced

While most people will tune in to this year’s Superbowl to cheer on their favorite team, entertainment enthusiasts around the globe will be eagerly tuning in to see which of their favorite movies will be granted screen time during what is considered to be the most-watched television show of the year. Today, The Hollywood Reporter announced that 5 films from Paramount are among those who will have a presence in the February 6th telecast – J.J. Abrams’ alien-invasion pic Super 8, the new Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Gore Verbinski’s CGI film Rango and Marvel’s superhero pics Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. With the exception of Rango, which opens March 4, all films have summer openings ranging from May 6 to July 29.

Didn’t see your favorite upcoming film on the list? Fear not. Disney plans to air new footage of the highly anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, while Universal and DreamWorks’ will plug the Daniel Craig-Harrison Ford sci-fi western Cowboys & Aliens. And both studios could add last minute spots for other upcoming films opening between now and May, especially if they are considered high-profile titles.

While there are no reported submissions from Warner Bros or Fox, Relativity Media is entering the Super Bowl fray for the first time as it promotes the Bradley Cooper/Robert De Niro vehicle Limitless, which opens March 18. The studio will also air a promo for Take Me Home Tonight (March 4) during Glee, which receives the post-Super Bowl berth this year.

There are also several studios, such as that are choosing to air spots during pregame festivities – Sony will air spots for Just Go With It (Feb. 11), Battle: Los Angeles (March 13) and Priest (May 13), Focus Features will air a spot for The Eagle (Feb. 11), and Paramount will air a spot for Kung Fu Panda 2 (May 27).

Given its powerful audience and high history of ratings, it is no secret that networks and studios go all out, spending millions for 30-second spots during the Superbowl every year. Reports so far indicate that Hollywood’s spend on Super Bowl advertising this year is on par with 2010, and could possibly surpass last year’s total.

Cowboys Stadium Offers Fans $200 Super Bowl Passes to Watch Event in Plaza

Not able to shell out thousands of dollars to watch Super Bowl XLV in Cowboys Stadium? No problem.  

According to My Fox Houston, Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels recently announced that fans can purchase $200 passes to watch the game outside in the east plaza on one of the stadium's big screen televisions.  

Daniels said that season ticket holders will get first dibs at the few thousand passes being offered.
"It will be an open-air atmosphere, and everybody should have a great time", he said.
 
The outdoor event will also include performances by the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders and the band Reckless Kelly.  

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones has expressed that he wants to break the Super Bowl attendance record, and the NFL has agreed to include outside attendance in the count toward the final number. 

Keith Urban set for pre-game Super Bowl XLV entertainment

Country singer Keith Urban will be the pre-game Super Bowl entertainment, the NFL and FOX Sports announced today. Pre-game coverage for the big game will begin at 1 p.m. on Fox 4 (KDFW-TV).  

Urban will appear on an outdoor stage under construction in a parking lot northwest of Cowboys Stadium. Urban appeared at Cowboys Stadium in November for a halftime performance at the Thanksgiving Day game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints.  

A release from the NFL said Urban's Super Bowl XLV performance will feature music from his recently released CD Get Closer, and will serve to kick off his just announced on-sale dates (to begin February 11) for his "Get Closer 2011 World Tour", which will begin on June 16 in Mississippi.  

The NFL previously announced that the Black Eyed Peas will perform in the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLV Halftime Show.
 
It's rumored that Christina Aguilera will sing the national anthem, but word hasn't surfaced yet about who might sing "God Bless America."

Super Bowl 2011 Betting Lines

2011 Super Bowl Betting Lines: The 2011 Super Bowl betting lines are seeing a lot of action going equally in all four teams directions. With the Green Bay Packers (+160) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (+200) as the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, it is going to be the two #6 seeds that will qualify. The Packers will take care of the Chicago Bears (+500), while the New York Jets (+350) will pull of the trifecta and defeat Ben Roethlisberger at Heinz Field. Online Sports Handicapping always offers the most accurate free sports picks and 2011 Super Bowl betting lines from our dedicated team of 2011 NFL playoff predictions experts. Find our winning NFL picks selection below.
 
Mike Tomlin can flash a Super Bowl ring, but Rex Ryan is a great schemer, and he clearly has the support of his team. The Jets just love playing for Ryan, and he is always getting the best out of his squad. We know if things are going wrong, Ryan is going to be able to come up with some different plan to turn things around. The Jets are going into action as underdogs for the third straight game, and the result will be bet the same once again. The 2011 NFL playoff lines at Bodog Sportsbooks have the New York Jets (+170) as the 2011 AFC Conference Championship selection to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (-200).  

We have to remember that it was only three weeks ago that the Packers were in a position where they had to beat this same Chicago team in Week 17 just to get into the playoffs. The Bears had absolutely nothing to play for, yet they were shutting out the Pack for nearly the first three quarters of the game. The only difference between the Packers then and now is that they are playing near perfect offense with Aaron Rodger continuing to elevate his play every week. Our team of 2011 NFL playoff predictions experts have the Green Bay Packers covering their -3 (-110) point spread against the NFC North Champion Chicago Bears +3 (-110).
 
If you’re looking for the inside edge, subscribe to our Free Sports Picks Newsletter and get the insight you need to make an informed decision from the Top NFL Handicapping Experts before every sports wager.

Maxim Spreading Super Bowl 2011 Love

Maxim magazine is spreading the Super Bowl XLV love. Along with the annual invite only Super Bowl party, which will be based in Dallas, TX this year, Maxim will host 3 other parties and connect via satellite to create the feel of one over the top party.

The main event, on Saturday, Feb 5th, will be at Fair Park’s Centennial Hall in Dallas. The theme will be State Fair with adult flair. I wonder if there will be a petting zoo along with the rides. Maxim is known for their over-the-top Super Bowl parties, and though details are minimal at this point, they surely won’t disappoint at this star studded event.

On Friday, Feb 4th, three smaller events will occur simultaneously in Fort Lauderdale’s Vibe Ultra Music Lounge, Spy Bar in Chicago, and Stingaree in San Diego. Hosting the Ft Lauderdale event is Maxim Home Town Hottie Lisa Morales of Aventura, with “Deco Drive” Shireen Sandoval.

Last year’s party thrown at Raleigh Hotel on Miami Beach attracted celebrities Brody Jenner, Audrina Partridge, Lo Bosworth, Kristin Cavallari and Stephanie Pratt from “The Hills.”  Olivia Munn, Shawn and Keenan Ivory Wayans, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo were also on the scene.  Owner of the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones and Evander Holyfield even made appearances.

Friday, Feb 4th:

Vibe Ultra Music Lounge / 301 E. Las Olas Blvd / Ft Lauderdale, FL

Spy Bar / 646 N Franklin St / Chicago, IL

Stingaree / 454 6th Ave / San Diego, CA

Main Event Saturday, Feb 5th:

Fair Park’s Centennial Building / Dallas, TX

2011 Super Bowl Betting Lines

2011 Super Bowl Betting Lines: The 2011 Super Bowl betting lines are seeing a lot of action going equally in all four teams directions. With the Green Bay Packers (+160) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (+200) as the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, it is going to be the two #6 seeds that will qualify. The Packers will take care of the Chicago Bears (+500), while the New York Jets (+350) will pull of the trifecta and defeat Ben Roethlisberger at Heinz Field. Online Sports Handicapping always offers the most accurate free sports picks and 2011 Super Bowl betting lines from our dedicated team of 2011 NFL playoff predictions experts. Find our winning NFL picks selection below.

Mike Tomlin can flash a Super Bowl ring, but Rex Ryan is a great schemer, and he clearly has the support of his team. The Jets just love playing for Ryan, and he is always getting the best out of his squad. We know if things are going wrong, Ryan is going to be able to come up with some different plan to turn things around. The Jets are going into action as underdogs for the third straight game, and the result will be bet the same once again. The 2011 NFL playoff lines at Bodog Sportsbooks have the New York Jets (+170) as the 2011 AFC Conference Championship selection to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (-200).

We have to remember that it was only three weeks ago that the Packers were in a position where they had to beat this same Chicago team in Week 17 just to get into the playoffs. The Bears had absolutely nothing to play for, yet they were shutting out the Pack for nearly the first three quarters of the game. The only difference between the Packers then and now is that they are playing near perfect offense with Aaron Rodger continuing to elevate his play every week. Our team of 2011 NFL playoff predictions experts have the Green Bay Packers covering their -3 (-110) point spread against the NFC North Champion Chicago Bears +3 (-110).

If you’re looking for the inside edge, subscribe to our Free Sports Picks Newsletter and get the insight you need to make an informed decision from the Top NFL Handicapping Experts before every sports wager.

And now we're down to 8 for Super Bowl 2011

Right now, there are only 8 teams left and next week there will be only 4 teams. This year's elite 8 are Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, and the Chicago Bears.

The Super Bowl 2011 live stream will soon begin a few weeks from now. Today, Baltimore will face Pittsburgh in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. Whoever wins will advance to the Conference Championships.

On the other hand, Green Bay will face Atlanta for the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Whoever wins will advance to the NFC Conference championships on January 23, 2011.

Tomorrow, the New York Jets will face the New England Patriots for the AFC Divisional Playoffs. For the NFC Divisional Playoffs, Seattle Seahawks will try to beat the Chicago Bears.

This is a really exciting NFL weekend. I know that everybody is looking forward for the Patriots to be this year's Super Bowl Champions. Let's see if they can beat the New York Jets and proceed to the AFC conference championships!

Keith Urban set for pre-game Super Bowl XLV entertainment

Country singer Keith Urban will be the pre-game Super Bowl entertainment, the NFL and FOX Sports announced today. Pre-game coverage for the big game will begin at 1 p.m. on Fox 4 (KDFW-TV).

Urban will appear on an outdoor stage under construction in a parking lot northwest of Cowboys Stadium.

Urban appeared at Cowboys Stadium in November for a halftime performance at the Thanksgiving Day game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints.

A release from the NFL said Urban's Super Bowl XLV performance will feature music from his recently released CD Get Closer, and will serve to kick off his just announced on-sale dates (to begin February 11) for his "Get Closer 2011 World Tour", which will begin on June 16 in Mississippi.

The NFL previously announced that the Black Eyed Peas will perform in the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLV Halftime Show.

It's rumored that Christina Aguilera will sing the national anthem, but word hasn't surfaced yet about who might sing "God Bless America."

Cowboys Stadium Offers Fans $200 Super Bowl Passes to Watch Event in Plaza

Not able to shell out thousands of dollars to watch Super Bowl XLV in Cowboys Stadium? No problem.

According to My Fox Houston, Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels recently announced that fans can purchase $200 passes to watch the game outside in the east plaza on one of the stadium's big screen televisions.

Daniels said that season ticket holders will get first dibs at the few thousand passes being offered.

"It will be an open-air atmosphere, and everybody should have a great time", he said.

The outdoor event will also include performances by the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders and the band Reckless Kelly.

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones has expressed that he wants to break the Super Bowl attendance record, and the NFL has agreed to include outside attendance in the count toward the final number.