From San Francisco to Kansas City, Tokyo to Las Vegas, the coverage of Super Bowl 58 required a comprehensive effort and coordination between Photos, Video, Digital, Audience, Sports, Entertainment, News and Business unlike any other previous championship game. And AP delivered unique, digital-driven coverage that spanned two continents and delivered engaging all-formats coverage for its customers and direct audiences.
This wasn’t just any Super Bowl. As soon the Kansas City Chiefs secured their ticket on Jan. 28, there was an added element that took the game to a different level: Taylor Swift. Her attempt to fly from a tour date in Tokyo roughly 36 hours before the Super Bowl captured the public’s attention, and AP Sports and Entertainment teams coordinated coverage with directors and teams in Tokyo, California and Nevada to cover her journey every step of the way.
During the game, AP documented every touchdown, dance moves by halftime performer Usher and his all-star cast of friends, ads and, yes, Swift’s celebrations in her star-studded luxury box in a Live Blog that had contributions from Video, Sports, Photos, Business, News and Entertainment journalists and generated over 165 thousand page views.
While NFL writer Rob Maaddi anchored the main game story — the most used Super Bowl story of the week by customers — music writer Maria Sherman wrote a review of Usher’s halftime performance that also resonated well with audiences.
Once Swift’s jet landed in Los Angeles, freelance photographer Eric Thayer was there for exclusive shots. Music writer Maria Sherman picked up the print story from Klug and Yamaguchi, tracking the plane and pulling details from the jet company and Swift’s people to bolster what she was seeing on the flight trackers.