The Super Bowl is the premier pop culture event in America. It draws a viewing audience that extends beyond just football fans; it’s an opportunity for people of all ages, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and entertainment interests to collectively participate in a single, shared experience. And perhaps the only thing more fun than watching the Super Bowl is talking about it the next day with friends, family, and coworkers (because there’s a good chance they watched it, too). There are a lot of topics of discussion to pick from, but the one that arguably generates the most opinions is the ever-hallowed halftime show.
This year, we saw none other than the incomparable Usher take the stage. And Usher was a good choice, and not just because of the halftime show’s rave reviews. According to Luminate’s Artist & Genre tracker, we can see that:
- 66% of Usher fans are likely to tune in for an Usher live television performance
- 49% sports fans who are aware of Usher are likely to tune in for an Usher live television performance
- 56% of Usher fans have watched, listened to, or attended a sports event, and they are 27% more likely to have done so, compared to the general U.S. population
But it wasn’t just Usher, of course. Part of the fun of watching the Super Bowl halftime show is seeing which guests the key performer is going to bring out on stage, and this year we were gifted with performances by Alicia Keys, H.E.R., will.i.am, Ludacris, Lil Jon, and Jermaine Dupri. Looking at Luminate’s Artist & Genre tracker again, we can see that Usher fans are 17% more likely than the average music listener to say they like it when their favorite artists collaborate with other artists.
If we look at NFL fans more broadly, we can gain even more insights into their music and entertainment habits. According to Luminate’s Entertainment 365 study, 39% of NFL fans listen to R&B, and likewise, 43% of R&B and Hip-Hop fans have engaged in sports entertainment. Given celebrity culture’s convergence with the NFL this year, largely thanks to the headline-grabbing relationship between Taylor Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, we can see that R&B and Hip-Hop fans are 90% more likely to discover new entertainment content from celebrities.
R&B and Hip-Hop have dominated the Super Bowl halftime shows since 2021. Looking again at our Entertainment 365 study, Rock is the #1 genre among NFL fans, and they are 38% more likely to be Rock listeners than the general population. Maybe we’ll see a Rock legend, an up-and-comer, or both take the stage next year!
