Excitement for this weekend’s Super Bowl is rising and, not surprisingly, radio stations are helping raise the heat with a variety of fun promotions and events centered around the big game. But not every station is staging an event this year. Far from it. We checked in with dozens of stations that reported they were doing nothing at all. For some, it’s because the NFL makes it difficult to promote due to broadcast restriction on using the trademarked term Super Bowl. Others say the current trend has fans favoring smaller house parties rather than large viewing events in bars and restaurants, and they’re planning accordingly.

According to WSOC Charlotte, N.C., promotion director Chele Fassig, “We have found that there are so many Super Bowl parties at various bars/restaurants/businesses here in Charlotte that we never really get a full turn out from our listeners, and it’s really hard to get these businesses to spend money with our station since they feel they usually already have built in crowds. Also, we have found that a majority of our audience prefers to stay home and have their own Super Bowl party or attend a house party.”

WJVC (My Country 96.1) Long Island, N.Y., PD Phathead agrees. “Super Bowl events aren’t what they used to be,” he says. “Most people like their house parties, not having to drive, having a ton of food and drink, and being in the comfort of their own home. I’m the same way.

“I don’t think it makes sense for a station to go nuts on air with a Super Bowl event unless you are giving away something spectacular,” Phathead continues. “The bottom line is I believe 90% of the country wants to be at a house party.

“With that in mind, we really just pick one bar/club and do a regular appearance,” he adds. “This year it’s a chili cook-off, where listeners have entered, and during the pre-game they will battle for the best chili. Our station people are the judges.

“One extra note, we have been running a ‘Congrats to the NY Giants’ promo with NFC Championship highlights for the last few weeks to get people pumped, and Sean Landetta, former punter and 1986/1991 Super Bowl champ, has been doing commentary and predictions for us. He lives on Long Island.”

Even KSON San Diego promotion and marketing manager Chris Turner is getting in on the trend, hosting a Super Bowl party at his home for friends this year rather than staging a station event.

Other stations shied away from promotions due to strict NFL restriction on use of the name of the game. WUSY Chattanooga, Tenn., is doing some sandwich giveaways with Subway on game day, but promotions director Brian Stewart reports, “our hands are tied when it comes to the use of ‘Super Bowl’[on the air].”

Likewise, WUBL (94.9 The Bull) Atlanta’s Melissa Krinsy reports, “Due to sponsorships and trademarks, we aren’t doing anything official.”

And despite the appearance of the New England Patriots in this year’s match up, WKLB Boston PD Mike Brophey reports, “With two sports stations in town hammering it, we opted to let people enjoy the game, and we’ll keep cranking out the country tunes.”

For stations still embracing the big game, here’s a rundown on the events and promotions being planned.

• KEEY (K102) Minneapolis MD/afternoon driver JD Greene will be “crashing” some Super Bowl house parties, and bringing Sony artist Josh Thompson along as well. They’ll bring subs, soda and other refreshments with them, and Thompson will have his guitar just in case an impromptu jam session is called for. Promotions director Matt Tell says they plan to hit two or three parties, selected from among those who entered to win.
• KMLE Phoenix is doing a “Super Shelton” weekend, giving away an Academy of Country Music Awards flyway trip to a winner to see Blake Shelton perform in Las Vegas on March 31, the day before the ACM Awards.
• WUBE (B105) Cincinnati teamed up with Papa John’s Pizza for the Toby Touchdown Throwdown promotion. Contestants could win a big screen TV and a large spread of food from Papa John’s, all delivered to their door for the big game on Sunday, as well as a guitar autographed by Toby Keith. Listeners were asked to tune in to hear a Keith cue to call three times a day. Smaller prizes for daily winners included Keith’s latest CD, “Clancy’s Tavern,” and Papa John’s gift certificates, in addition to qualifying for the grand prize.
• In Indianapolis, where the big game is taking place, WFMS PD Mark Hamlin reports, “We have a lot going on. The NFL experience and village are amazing. The crowds have been huge down there. Jimmy Fallon is in town to tape three shows and do his show live after the Super Bowl. WTHR—the NBC affiliate here—is our partner, so we’ve been giving away tickets and hope to have him on the morning show Friday. And Blake Shelton will be in town to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ [with Miranda Lambert] before the Super Bowl. He will be calling in on Friday. We are all having a blast!”
• WDNB (Thunder 102) Hudson Valley, N.Y., marketing and promotions director Regina Hensley says, “We actually tie our Super Bowl promotion—a Super Bowl Take Out Party—around our annual Thunder Blood Bowl, a blood donation event for the local chapter of the American Red Cross and one of the largest blood drives in the county each year.” This year’s drive, in association with the American Red Cross, raised 71 units of blood. A Pre-Game Party blood drive at a local medical center raised another 23 units of blood. During the drive, there were hourly giveaways of Thunder 102 prize packs featuring CDs, t-shirts and other items from Nashville recording artists. One winner received a “Take Out Super Bowl Party” from a local sports bar and café.
• Renee Fonner, promotions director of Cromwell Radio’s Mattoon, Ill., cluster, reports that at country station WMCI, “It is nothing unique but we are headed to a bar (imagine that) with our friends from Bud Light for Bud Bowl Bash 12. [There will be] prizes, including a new recliner, drink specials, food specials, and I have informed our listeners they must sit during the entire second quarter so I don’t miss the David Beckham commercial.”
• At WGH-FM (97.3 The Eagle) Virginia Beach, Va., promotions director Joe Britton reports the station is taking a low key approach to the big game this year, but there will be “some sales driven items with [restaurant] Moe’s, and some Web contesting. I will be doing a video based on the big game pertaining to the commercials.”
• While KNCI Sacramento, Calif., doesn’t have anything planned for this year, promotions and marketing director Nate Samelson says, “In the past, our morning show has done recipe contests, and one year we gave away cans of soup and rounds of bowling for the ‘soup or bowl.’”
• While WCTK (Cat Country 98.1) Providence, R.I., doesn’t have any big promotions planned, PD Bob Walker says, “Content wise, we’ve been heavy into the local angles: Where to watch? Who do you know that’s going? Is the hype too much? (Believe it or not, the answer was yes.) What events have been cancelled or postponed? This morning we had a listener whose honeymoon to some island with no TV [was] delayed [due to the game]. Man, is that guy gonna hear it for all eternity!”
• While country WGAR Cleveland doesn’t have anything planned, two of its sister stations are doing Super Bowl promotions, according to marketing director Jeff Zukauckas. WMMS teamed up with Pepsi to give away a Super Bowl trip. Winners had to bowl inside a local grocery chain for a chance to win. And news/talk/sports sister station WTAM does a Big Game Roundtable discussion at a local bar a few days before the game, he reports. “That features three of our sports talent, one writer from the Plain Dealer (Cleveland daily newspaper) and former NFL quarterback Mike Pagel. They break down the big game during this live broadcast.”
• Three of the stations in CBS Radio’s Las Vegas cluster (KLUC, KXTE and KXNT) teamed up this year for the chicken wing eating contest Wing Bowl 3, featuring a grand prize of $5,000 cash and a custom Wing Bowl Championship belt. Eight qualifiers for the final round were determined by an initial “Wing Off,” in which contestants ate as many wings as they could in a five-minute period. Added to the event this year was an Entourage Contest for those cheering on the contestants. Winners in that contest competed for a weekend for four in San Diego, including a two-night stay at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, a day of golf, and a five-hour beer connoisseur tour with Brew Hop.