The Rewards of Hosting A Super Bowl

By Cheval John


I am in “recovery mode” after having the opportunity to work and cover Super Bowl 51 that took place in Houston.

This past super bowl was the best championship matchup ever due to it going into overtime for the first time ever.

It was also the first time that a team had an epic meltdown on the biggest stage ever.

The Atlanta Falcons, who came into the Super Bowl as having the No.1 ranked offense, found a way to lose to the New England Patriots 34-28 in overtime.

The Falcons had a reputation of collapsing in the playoffs over the years.

Many thought that they were going to reverse the above and finally win their first Super Bowl.

The Patriots found a way to overcome a 25 point defecit with their determination plus heart and won their fifth Super Bowl.

Many major media outlets documented the Falcons’ epic collapse and also Lady Gaga’s halftime show

These same journalists from the major media outlets travel annually to cover the Super Bowl, which is the biggest event in the USA.

If a journalist is not a beat writer or a sports reporter for that particular NFL team, then they will not be able to travel to cover the Super Bowl due to budgets constraints or if their team did not make the championship.

Many television, radio and newspaper journalists had the opportunity to cover the festivities surrounding Super Bowl 51 here in Houston.

We saw reports about different festivities like Super Bowl Live, which took place at Discovery Green, that allowed the fans to see live concerts and also see the sports television personalities from Fox Sports, the NFL network ESPN and many others broadcast their shows live.

We also saw the feedback from the visitors on whether the city of Houston did an excellent job of hosting them during the Super Bowl.

Local residents of Houston had the opportunity to work as volunteers for the Houston Super Bowl Committee.

Some of us who work as social media professionals volunteered our services in working at the social media command center at the headquarters of the Houston Super Bowl Committee.

I had the opportunity to work as a social media volunteer for the Houston Super Bowl Committee and cover the activities using the different social media channels to give my audience a behind the scenes view of Super Bowl 51.

Take a look at this light show at Discovery Green

And the revolving Super Bowl rings that was displayed at the NFL Experience (which you had to pay to attend) inside the George R. Brown Convention Center

This photo below is the Lombardi Trophy which attendees had the opportunity to take a picture with

You will see how downtown got extremely busy when the visitors outside of the Houston area arrived on the weekend of the Super Bowl

I can tell you that it was truly a dream to be here for the Super Bowl because of seeing the lively atsmophere when watching all of the media coverage of the championship event.

I got to see first hand the teamwork from the different tourism organizations like Houston First and The Greater Houston Partnership who helped promote the event.

I also saw the Houston Astros organization lend their full support to the Super Bowl with the use of Minute Maid Park, where the opening night (media day) took place.

Now that Super Bowl 51 is over, the Houston Super Bowl host committee did the honorary transfer of the guard to the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee to get their city prepared to host Super Bowl 52.

My advice to the Minnesota Super Bowl Committee is to think outside of the box and enlist social media professionals in addition to business leaders to help promote Super Bowl 52.

You will do an excellent job because you have the right leaders and team members that are qualified to host the Super Bowl.

For anyone who works in the different business sectors and industries in the Minneapolis area, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to be apart of the Super Bowl.

Though you will not get paid, I can guarantee you that you will see the long term benefits of volunteering your time for the Super Bowl.

When the commissioner of the NFL tells the crowd and the national media that your host city did an excellent work in hosting the fans and visitors, you will have a sense of pride in being a part of a Super Bowl.

To close out this blog post, here is the video of the Super Bowl train leaving downtown which was the home of the Houston Super Bowl Committee

And the fireworks to end the Super Bowl Live Festivities

About Cheval John

Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval is also the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business. He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.

We Welcome Your Comments