Super Bowl halftime show performer announced: Usher
February's Super Bowl will feature Usher as its headline performer for the Apple Music Halftime Show. The announcement was made with a video featuring Kim Kardashian cut into the prelude for one of his music videos, Confessions, Pt. II.
Kim K. and Usher stans will love it.
This will be the sixth show with Roc Nation involved in the production of the NFL's biggest entertainment product of the year, a run that has preceded Usher with Shakira/Jennifer Lopez, The Weeknd, Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg/Eminem/Mary J. Blige/Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna just last year.
This era of halftime shows has featured more true solo performances, with The Weeknd and Rihanna both going solo in their respective performances. In the 2010s, only The Who and Lady Gaga went solo, with the 2000s featuring four solo performances. It's unclear if Usher plans to bring any special guests, and we may not know until the lights go out and the performance starts.
Usher has not released a solo album since 2016, but with the halftime show often attempting to serve both modern and older audiences, his selection may be a chance to unite music tastes across generations. Despite his lack of new music, he's maintained relevance with a residency in Las Vegas and has one upcoming in Paris in 2024.
NFL global expansion growing and growing
The NFL increasingly wants to become a global brand, and to do so, it appears committed to leaning further into overseas contests several times a year. The NFL International Series kicked off in London in 2007, but in recent years the NFL has staged games in non-US countries on a more frequent basis.
2022 featured three games in Europe, one game in Mexico, and one game in Germany. 2023 features three in Europe and two in Germany.
The NFL also created a marketing tactic that assigned various teams with representative countries.
According to Adam Schefter, the NFL is scouting other locations for future games, including Spain and Brazil. The cities the NFL is looking into are Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Schefter also reports that NFL executive vice president Peter O'Reilly suggested the NFL would consider Australia, too, but that logistics may be prohibitive.
An additional game on the schedule with 17 instead of the previously-scheduled 16 affords teams the chance to add an international game without necessarily having to remove a home game for its local fans.
It also begs the question of whether or not the NFL will ever try to stage a European team or even a European division. Such a team could take advantage of the close proximity of massive soccer stadiums -- London, Germany, and Spain, where the NFL already plays or wants to play gmaes are all close to one another -- and float around Europe for its "home" games. Surely, it would give that team one heck of a home-field advantage.
The Jaguars, already threatening a relocation, have been thought to be the most likely already-existing team to make a European leap.
For now, the NFL seems content in giving its current slate of 32 teams rotational presence in the International Games, but as the sport grows in popularity, it's something that could be considered.
Nick Chubb's injury return timeline
As we covered yesterday, Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb got relatively positive reads on imaging done to his knee injury sustained on Monday night. Chubb, who suffered an injury with a similar outcome while at Georgia, tore his MCL, but his ACL was not fully torn, according to the initial MRI.
Reporters, Ian Rapoport among them, also indicated that the kneecap was not dislocated.
Initially, it was theorized that a dislocation and fully torn MCL and ACL were probable.
Rapoport was quick to point out that the good news does not mean Chubb is guaranteed to avoid reconstructive surgery altogether on his ACL, but it is a good step in the right direction. If Chubb can indeed avoid full reconstruction of his ACL, there is optimism that he could be ready to play for the start of the 2023 season.
The Browns have Chubb under contract for next season before he hits free agency. It would be a key year for both Cleveland as well as Chubb who will try to prove he can bounce back from the injury ahead of a new contract.