In an effort to understand whether fans were tuning in to this year’s Super Bowl for the Mahomes masterclass or just for the halftime theatrics, we looked at the UK audiences discussing either one of the topics online after the game and ran an analysis.
Entertainment vs. Football
This year the fabled Super Bowl halftime show provided even more entertainment than usual - with Rihanna headlining, it was set to be a spectacle, but with the performance also serving as an announcement of her pregnancy, the show sparked huge conversations online. The chart below begins to give names to the voices:
Our top three tribes on the entertainment side were Contemporary Culture Fans, Pop Culture Lovers, and Informed Progressives respectively. Here’s our take:
The Contemporary Culture Fans tribe was primarily composed of Hip-Hop, Grime, and alternative culture fans. The emphasis on music is far from surprising, but the the slight skew towards the alternative is an interesting point
Our Pop Culture Lovers comprise a young, well informed audience united by an interest in celebrity and Hollywood culture. We see the likes of Beyoncé, the Kardashians, and Harry Styles topping off the tribe’s list of notable influencers
The Informed Progressives, a city-dwelling, largely professional audience, had an almost equal interest in the Super Bowl game and the halftime entertainment. We see Politics, News, and People & Society as the largest category interests here
On the football-focussed side, the Super Bowl game itself certainly lived up to expectations, with the Chiefs beating the Eagles in the fourth quarter, and Patrick Mahomes taking home MVP. As expected, the conversation around the Super Bowl game produced a very different audience landscape.
Here’s our tribe analysis:
Keen Sports Fans made up the largest tribe in this leg of the study, comprising football (Soccer), boxing, tennis, rugby, and golf enthusiasts. They are an audience that lives and breathes all things sport; staying up late to catch the Super Bowl is just part of the drill.
The next largest audience were the Keen Gamers, interestingly making up just over 12% of the group. This audience is most representative of the Gen Z male, with youtubers and streamers coming up as this tribe’s top influencers.
- The Informed Progressives reappeared in third place, speaking to the breadth of the audience. Key categories and topics include Rock music, sports, and business, and the group skews male.
In sum, there are no great surprises here, but our insights make clear two main points of interest for marketers. First, entertainment is news - fans of contemporary and pop culture are tuning in to keep up with current affairs. Secondly, the appearance of Keen Gamers once again underpins the value and scale of gaming audiences right now.
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