Super Bowl LV: Differences in the Era of Covid
From an event planner’s perspective, the Super Bowl is always a feat to be marveled at. The sheer amount of coordination, attention to detail, and innovation is impressive year to year. Like almost everything else has been, this year’s big game was different. The Covid-19 pandemic caused the NFL to adopt unprecedented practices, rules, and procedures.
BLME watched this year’s game from event professionals’ eyes and noted Super Bowl LV’s differences in the era of Covid. Check out our list of the most prominent pivots, absences, and tweaks below.
Picture Source: USA Today
Super Bowl LV: Differences in the Era of Covid
To start, there was a poem reading from Amanda Gorman, the same poet who performed at this year’s inauguration. The poem highlighted the pandemic and social justice issues, something that has not been done in the past.
In addition to the poem and its contents being unprecedented, the performance of the piece was pre-recorded and aired via the big screens as opposed to being performed live on the field.
The honorary captains that were honored prior to the game were on the field - however they were standing at least six feet apart from each other and were wearing masks.
One of the most striking differences in this year’s game was the audience, or lack thereof.
There were 25,000 fans in the stadium (upped from the proposed 22,000 announced previously). While this is a lot of people to gather for a pandemic, Raymond James Stadium can normally hold over 65,000 people.
One may think this meant there were lots of visible empty seats, however that was not the case. 30,000+ cardboard cutouts of fans’ faces filled empty seats, giving the appearance of a much larger crowd. Fans paid $100 each to get their cutouts placed in the stadium.
In the lower level, there were 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers being honored and celebrated with first-rate seats to the big game.
When the cameras offered a zoomed out view of the stadium, it was clear that the top level of audience seats was extremely sparse - a stark comparison to a normally packed-to-the-brim event.
In fact, this was the smallest crowd in Super Bowl history - not due to lack of interest but because of safety measures.
Those that were in the crowd were each given hand sanitizer and a face mask, which they were encouraged to wear the entire game.
Many coaches, referees, and players on the sidelines also sported face masks.
This year’s halftime show, performed by The Weeknd, had many differences than shows of previous years. Some major differences included:
The majority of the show took place on a stage in the endzone, as opposed to the tradition of having a large stage in the middle of the field for the entire audience to see.
The Weeknd and his plethora of dancers did eventually make their way to the center of the field, but this year it was on foot and only towards the end of the performance.
Speaking of his backup dancers, The Weeknd had hundreds of performers in his set. While this isn’t exactly pandemic-friendly, the majority of the time the dancers were significantly distanced from each other. And technically, they were wearing face masks…
It was clear that the show’s producers were focused on the audience at home rather than the crowd present for the live show. In fact, for a whole section of the show, The Weeknd was in a mirrored maze, not visible to the live audience. Instead, there were tons of close-up camera shots, clearly playing to the viewers at home. There was even a time in the show when The Weeknd was on the main stage, but with his back completely to the live audience, singing directly to the TV cameras.
Finally, while not pandemic-related, this guy made a surprise appearance...something most certainly not seen in Super Bowls past.
While BLME appreciates that some safety measures and precautions were put into place for this year’s big game, overall we feel that more could have been done from an event planner’s perspective to ensure the health and safety of the players, coaches, and guests.