Super Bowl LVIII – Opening Day
Monday marked the beginning of opening week at the Super Bowl live from Las Vegas. In true Las Vegas Fashion the opening press conference featured a Break-Dancing performance, background dancers, and even a cameo from Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton.
Governor Joe Lombardo also spoke at the Opening Press Conference and officially proclaimed this week as the opening week of the Super Bowl.
“Whereas Las Vegas is excited to showcase its world class entertainment, dazzling lights and unmatched spirit of hospitality to all Super Bowl fans and attendees. And whereas the super-bowl is the most watched television event throughout the year. More importantly, it’s an enduring American tradition that brings together neighbors, family, and friends to celebrate our national love for football. And whereas Super Bowl 58 will be a historic sporting and entertainment event for the city of Las Vegas and the State of Nevada, football fans across the nation, and all attendees. Therefore, I, Joe Lombardo, Governor of the state of Nevada do hereby proclaim the week of February 5th-12th 2024, as Super Bowl 58 week in Nevada,” Lombardo said.
In a much less serious tone, legendary Vegas performer Mr. Las Vegas gave his thoughts on the Super Bowl coming to his stomping grounds.
“Ladies and gentleman, the Super Bowl in Las Vegas… Yay! The Super Bowl in Las Vegas is more than a game…. Because it’s really about our community,” Newton said.
This is one of the biggest events in the world, but it also expects to be one of the largest Super Bowls in history, according to Governor Lombardi. The Super Bowl itself will be broadcast across 190 countries in 25 different languages, which is a record. 350,000 people are expected to Travel to Las Vegas to attend the Super Bowl and events throughout the week. Those pre–Super Bowl events are also going to be at a record high, with over 300 events across Las Vegas.
The opening press conference was followed by the first look at Allegiant Stadium, which featured a press conference with Nicki Ewell and Katie Keenan the Senior Directors of Events for the NFL.
Both highlighted the importance of Opening Night at the stadium, which was formerly known as media day and featured interviews with both teams in the Super bowl. Last year was the first year it was open to the public, however it was in a convention center. This year fans get to break in Allegiant stadium on Monday night, and tickets are relatively affordable, coming in at $30 even.
“We just want to make sure we have as many events that are as accessible as possible to the fans, regardless of your socioeconomic status. We know how coveted that ticket is on Super Bowl Sunday, of course that ticket is in the thousands. For us your fandom is not dictated by how much money you can spend on a ticket. We opened up the stadium with a lot of collaboration from Katie and her team, our vendors and security team, and our key stakeholders here because we wanted to show off Allegiant stadium. It’s a beautiful stadium, all these amazing LEDs, all of our hero graphics are up, it’s really about having many touch points with our fans. We want to make sure that we have accessible fan events for those that want to consume the NFL brand, even if you are not a fan of the NFL, we can convert you when you come down to see a $30 price point for an amazing preview of Game day,” Nicki Ewell said.
In the past media night has been marked by the weird and the wild, with a proposal to Tom Brady coming from a “reporter” just a few years ago. Although there is a new format to this event, Ewell expects the media aspect of the event to remain just as weird as usual.
“It wouldn’t be opening night without someone trying to get married or propose to Travis Kelce, probably. We will see a lot of entertainment media here, there are thousands and thousands of media here, so we are excited to see what shenanigans you guys have planned,” Ewell said.
There will be no buffer in between interviews and fan consumption, as some interviews will be streamed directly on the big board. This could bode for some interesting moments, as there will be no edits or proofing from producers, allowing for general fans to hear firsthand from their favorite Coaches and Players.
The Kansas City Chiefs will open up the event, taking questions first. They will then be joined by the San Francisco 49ers in a moment of unity on stage, before taking questions themselves.
