AOL has completed its plans for a Super Bowl sponsorship package featuring three 30-second television spots to air during the game and a showcase of old and new ads available online, according to Carlos Silva, AOL's senior vice president of news and sports programming.
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| Paul Teutul Sr. (top) and son Paul Jr. of the Discovery Channel series "American Chopper" star in AOL ads that will air on the Super Bowl. |
Silva said the package, to be announced this week, was designed with the dual goals of promoting the company's new TopSpeed technology, which allows for faster downloads, and of making AOL the annual gathering place to view and vote on commercials that air during the NFL game.
The package is being billed as "Super Bowl@AOL."
AOL executives are expecting a huge response considering the planning and promotion for this year's Super Bowl package far exceeds last year, when AOL users viewed a total of 5.5 million streams of commercials following the game despite minimal in-game promotion and only one 15-second television spot. Projections for this year's volume were not available, nor were expenses for the promotional effort.
"We're tying all the loose ends together in a way we never did last year," Silva said.
The television ads, which will air both online and during CBS' broadcast of the Feb. 1 game, will feature the Teutuls, the father-son team of motorcycle mechanics from Discovery Channel's hit show "American Chopper." The ads will show the Teutuls learning about TopSpeed and attempting to use the technology to make their bikes faster.
As part of the online package, Web users will be able to view on aol.com a number of popular commercials from past Super Bowls. Immediately after this year's game, most of the ads that air during the game will be available online, as well. Fans will be able to vote for their favorites, and the top five results will be posted that night.
The streamed ads will be promoted during the game telecast, Silva said.
Between Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, AOL plans to offer select NFL and entertainment content, including all Super Bowl@AOL elements, free to all users. For AOL members, the company also this week will make available 37 specially packaged highlight reels from the NFL, largely consisting of highlights from past Super Bowls. Editorial content will feature news, polls, features and video interviews with host Roy Firestone. Also included in the daily editorial content will be video updates on parties and events courtesy of an undetermined celebrity host.
Other newly settled elements of the AOL-Super Bowl package include title sponsorship of the game's halftime show, which will be called the AOL TopSpeed Halftime Show, and title sponsorship of the NFL Experience, which will be called AOL Presents the NFL Experience at Super Bowl XXXVIII. The NFL Experience will feature a booth touting AOL's latest products.
