Super Bowl LI in Houston will go down in history books, as the New England Patriots pulled off an unprecedented rally to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34 to 28 at NRG Stadium. Sunday’s halftime show also went big, as Lady Gaga showed off vocal acrobatics and actual acrobatics—along with a light show from an army of flying drones powered by the Intel Shooting Star drone system.
Leading up to the big game, brands hosted events across downtown Houston at venues as varied as the University of Houston, downtown's Discovery Green park, a warehouse near the Arts District, and a pop-up nightclub. That last venue would be Club Nomadic, a massive 62,500-square-foot, three-tiered temporary traveling nightclub from Nomadic Entertainment Group, an entity of On Location Experiences (the official hospitality partner of the N.F.L.). Club Nomadic played host to concerts from stars like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Sam Hunt, and the Chainsmokers.
Returning brands to the Super Bowl event landscape included DirecTV, Playboy, Bud Light, Rolling Stone, Maxim, Marriott, Animal Planet, and ESPN. Standout production included tech elements like 3-D projection-mapping systems, as well as human touches such as live muralists. Here's a look at how companies spread brand awareness through the global platform of the Super Bowl.
Swift's performance took place at Club Nomadic, a 62,500-square-foot, custom-designed pop-up venue. “This gives us more flexibility to build the structure around Taylor Swift’s show, making the space entirely custom-designed to our needs,” said Roger Hyde, senior vice president of advertising and creative services at AT&T.
Angel City Designs’ Damon Drescher and Michael Gerloff created a supper-club environment with a half-round stage—backed by a video wall—under a clear roof dome that showed off the Houston skyline.
The Fox Sports Whiskey Roundup went with a Western-steampunk style, and used oversize quotes about whiskey as decor.
The room also featured a poker casino, Skeeball Alley, costumed dancers, and dancing stilt walkers.
Costumed "whiskey vixens" in steampunk-inspired costumes served premium craft whiskeys from roving carts at the Fox Sports Whiskey Roundup on Friday at the Fox Party Pavilion.Â
Chef Tim Love, a Texas native, served up menu items like smoked prime rib, pork tenderloin, and seafood and wild game paella for Fox’s Super Bowl hospitality tent in Houston.
Puppies from two local animal shelters hit the field for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl Experience. The activation was produced by the Global Events & Brand Activation team at Discovery, and fabricated by Blue Flame.
Thomas Rhett performed at the Budweiser’s Country event at Buffalo Bayou Cisterns on Friday.
Sting took the stage for Bud Light’s event at White Oak Music Hall on Saturday.
ESPN hosted its 13th annual ESPN the Party event on Friday at a 65,000-square-foot warehouse located just outside of the Arts District in downtown Houston. Event Eleven handled the production and design for the event, creating a space designed to mirror a construction site that reflects the new development of the city.
The event design incorporated heavy equipment such as genie lifts and fork lifts as part of the design, with scenic from ZH Productions, lighting from Felix Lighting, and scaffolding from Brown United. More than 1,000 LED tubes lit the space, while Aaron De La Cruz painted a piece on site as part of an interactive installation.
The 300-foot-long, 20-foot-tall exterior projection highlighted images from ESPN the Magazine and sponsor logos, with custom content by V Squared Labs.
Decor at ESPN the Party included custom paneling, with imagery printed onto raw sheets of plywood.
On Location Experiences, the official hospitality partner of the N.F.L., hosted exclusive Super Bowl LI pregame events at the Champions Club in the NRG Center in Houston. Decor included a custom carpet with the game's official logo.
Live entertainment included dancers who performed in an area designed to resemble a football field. Other performers included Lady Antebellum, O.A.R., and Tyler Farr.
The decor at the pregame events evoked a football theme, with screens that gave guests the impression of being inside a stadium.
Taylor Swift headlined her first DirecTV Now Super Saturday Night as part of her multi-year, multi-faceted deal with AT&T that includes performances and content. Portions of this concert will air only on Taylor Swift Now, available on DirecTV Now, DirecTV, and U-verse at a later date. Swift told the crowd of 8,000 invited guests that she would not tour this year and this was her only show of 2017.
Sponsors for the AT&T Presents DirecTV Now Super Saturday Night event included LeEco, a Chinese technology and electronics company.
Upon arrival, guests walked through a digital tunnel with graphics to get them excited for the show.
Bruno Mars headlined the Lifewtr Art After Dark party at Club Nomadic on Friday. The event celebrated the launch of Lifewtr, a new premium bottled water from PepsiCo, bringing in celebs like John Legend (who starred in Lifewtr’s Super Bowl ad). DJ Khaled also performed at the party.Â
This year, Maxim brought its event to Smart Financial Centre, a new indoor performance venue in Sugarland, Texas. The Saturday-night event was produced by Karma International and presented by local attorney Thomas J. Henry.
The Smart Financial Centre was outfitted for theatrical lighting and concert-level sound. About 4,500 guests checked out interactive areas like the Monster Energy FMX Motorcycle Show and the Monster Energy Lounge, along with an art exhibit powered by Aireal that showcased 3-D painted art.
DJ Khaled, Travis Scott, and Joe Jonas’s DNCE all performed at the event.
Bud Light, the official beer of the N.F.L., served up beverages and swag for guests at Maxim's party. Specialty cocktails were also provided by Absolut Elyx and Tequila AvĂon, with champagne courtesy of GH Mumm and Perrier Jouet.
Playboy took over Spire Nightclub on Saturday, and instead of an invite-only party, the magazine opened the event up to consumers this year. Indian Motorcycle and 50 Cent’s Effen Vodka sponsored the event, which saw a performance from Flo Rida and an appearance by 50 Cent. Playboy partnered with TAO and Spire Nightclub for the production of the party.Â
Servers at downtown’s Spire Nightclub dressed up in iconic Playboy bunny suits.
Taste of the N.F.L.’s Party with a Purpose drew current, past, and Hall of Fame N.F.L. players including Chris Doleman to a custom-built 80,000-square-foot tent on the University of Houston. All of the proceeds from the sold-out event went towards supporting food banks and food pantries in the 32 N.F.L. cities.
Taste of the N.F.L. celebrity chefs and hosts Andrew Zimmern, Richard Blais, and Alex Guarnaschelli joined 32 chefs representing each of the N.F.L. cities to whip up pre-game bites for a crowd of nearly 3,000 guests.
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown surprised fans in Houston by picking up their tabs for Super Bowl swag at the N.F.L. Shop using his Visa payment ring.
Visa's payment ring allows customers to pay at any N.F.C.-enabled terminal with the tap of a finger. The company created special rings for the Super Bowl weekend.
The Giving Back Fund hosted its eight annual Big Game Big Give Charity event on Saturday at the Houston estate of Michael and Lisa Holthouse. Toast and the Sullivan Group produced the event. This year, for the first time, the event included a celebrity poker tournament after-party.
Actor Josh Brolin hosted the event, with actor David Schwimmer as emcee. The event raised more than $1 million by auctioning off lots from sports memorabilia to a walk-on role in one of Brolin’s upcoming films.
The Turner Ignite Sports Luxury Lounge set up shop at Bar Bleu. The daytime gifting lounge offered items from Ralph Lauren, State Bags, Chevron, and SoulCycle.
Actor Anthony Anderson took up ping-pong at the Turner Ignite Sports Luxury Lounge. Other celeb attendees include Adrienne Bailon, Adrien Grenier, the Green Bay Packers' Eddie Lacy, and the Los Angeles Rams’ Bradley Marquez. Â
