Tech Talk News: How The Superbowl Is Going High-Tech In 2012

Football isn’t a high-tech sport, though many great football video games have been made for those of us not built for the real thing.This year, however, the Superbowl is going high-tech.Advertisers are tapping into social media to help promote their ads and products.the NFL is streaming the game live for the first time ever.

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Even the security at Superbowl XLVI is high-tech.

NFL Combats Piracy By Streaming The Big Game Online And On Your Smartphone

In years past, if you didn’t have a television and couldn’t find a good Superbowl party to attend, you had to resort to an illegal download site to find the Superbowl online.

The NFL’s decision to stream the big game online and on mobile phones is brilliant, and marks yet another evolutionary step on the road to universal online media.

Someday hopefully all professional sports games will be available legally on the internet. This represents a huge opportunity to expand fan bases and incorporate social media and online advertising into professional sports.

It also represents a big opening for smaller leagues and sports that might not have prominent slots on television today, but could easily tap into niche audiences online.

And of course, there are many apps that you can choose from to watch the game on your mobile device.

Advertisers Utilize Social Media To Enhance Their Superbowl Ads

Nobody has tapped into the potential of social media and interactivity the way Coca Cola has for this year’s Superbowl. Todd Wasserman at Mashableexplains:

The two animated bears, one sporting a red scarf signaling his support of the New York Giants, the other wearing a blue and grey scarf for the New England Patriots, will be featured in a microsite,CokePolarBowl.com, that will show their reactions to the game. If the Patriots score a touchdown, for instance, the Patriots bear might raise his hands for the touchdown sign, while the Giants bear will hold his head in his hands.

The bears’ reactions, manipulated by two employees at Coke ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, will be done on the fly. Even a TV spot running during the game will be updated depending on who is winning. Called “Catch,” the ad will show a bear leaving the ice cave to seek a break in the tension with a Coke before starting an impromptu football game on the ice.

If the Giants are winning, the Patriots bear will be featured (however, the real-time feed will show the other bear who stayed behind.) If the game is tied, the bear will represent the team that has had the tenser time, says Pio Schunker, vice president of creative excellence for Coca-Cola.

The team, which includes digital agency 360i, has prepared for other eventualities as well. If there’s a racy ad or a Janet Jackson moment, for instance, a bear will cover a cub’s eyes.

This is especially clever since more people than ever will be either watching the game online – and clicking around to other sites like CokePolarBowl.com while watching or during commercial breaks – or playing with their smartphones while watching the game.

Other ad agencies have released ads in segments online as special web exclusives.

Doritos features an ad that spoofs Apple’s voice helper Siri.

Expect plenty of companies to push hard for a social media presence during the game on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.

And check out the many sites geared specifically toward Superbowl geeks.

The only part of the 2012 Superbowl not as high-tech as last year is the stadium.

[forbes]