Whatever the real reason for the NFL canceling the traditional Super Bowl entertainment press conference on Thursday, Commissioner Roger Goodell wasn't going to elaborate.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the NFL honcho responded to a query about the abrupt cancellation via social media Tuesday night in vague terms.
“I will tell you that when we looked at how we do things around the Super Bowl - press conferences, announcements - we have all looked at how the world is changing. For us and particularly for our artists, one of the things they really wanted to do is (use new opportunities) to be able to reach their fans directly, tease the show a little bit. Both the NFL and our artists are excited about that...there may be more changes like that (in the future).”
Goodell did not address the fact that if Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi wanted to use other platforms to promote their performance at Sunday’s Super Bowl, why was a press conference even scheduled?
Credit: Mike Zarrilli
Credit: Mike Zarrilli
He also seemed to downplay any issues the league will have attracting talent for future Super Bowls.
“We have great artists performing all week here – we’re extremely pleased with the diversity and quality,” Goodell said. “This is the biggest stage in the world and people want to be part of that. We have close to 200 million fans (in the NFL); we know there are segments who are going to have different reactions to different things.”
At other times during his 45 minutes fielding questions, the commissioner referred to Atlanta as “a city of milestones, a city of progress” and “the pillar of the Civil Rights movement.”
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