From his 95-second silent pose to the electrifying dance moves, Michael Jackson didn’t just perform at the 1993 Super Bowl halftime show — he set a precedent and redefined the event. More than three decades later, Jackson’s impact lingers on. But before this unforgettable spectacle played out at the Rose Bowl, Jackson had made a bold request to the league — to push the Super Bowl back by three hours to a nighttime slot instead of the scheduled 3:25 p.m. kickoff.
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According to Don Mischer, producer, and director of the Super Bowl XVII halftime show, MJ’s first meeting with him after agreeing to perform was to put across this request. Mischer and his team were stunned.
However, Jackson believed the change made sense, as performing in the darkness would enhance the spectacle. From an artistic standpoint, his glittery jacket and signature moonwalk under the night sky would have made for an unforgettable show.
“I will never forget the first meeting when we agreed to do this… Michael comes into the room; he’s very gentle and friendly. And the first thing he said was, ‘I’d like to move the game three hours [back] so my halftime show can be in darkness’,” recalled Mischer.
But logistically, the change was impossible. Delaying the Super Bowl by three hours would have pushed the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills to midnight in the Central and Eastern time zones. Unsurprisingly, the NFL rejected his plea.
“And I said to Michael, ‘That means that, in the Central and Eastern time zones, it’s gonna be like midnight if we do that. So we can’t do that,” added Mischer.
Another demand that ‘The King of Pop’ floated to the NFL was a compensation of a million dollars for the performance. The league, however, stuck to its stance of paying the headliners in exposure than money. The pop icon reportedly “got $35 or $40 million worth of exposure”.
Despite the negotiation tussle, the two parties agreed and delivered a performance that revitalized the allure of the NFL’s magnum opus. What once was simply a sporting spectacle now has a much-anticipated secondary feature.
Jackson’s iconic performance not only raised the bar but also paved the way for many future headliner acts and ambitious set designs.
Jackson helped the Super Bowl elevate its legacy in pop culture, but arguably, the biggest impact of his performance was helping the NFL and CBS retain its audience.
Super Bowl halftime performances were a joke before Jackson
Before Jackson’s iconic Super Bowl XXVII performance, the halftime show had a set of marching bands or gimmicky pop-culture acts that lacked star power. Fans naturally began seeing the Super Bowl halftime performances as a bathroom break.
This is when FOX decided to flip the game by airing a live episode of In Living Color during the halftime of the Super Bowl in 1992. This led to millions of TV viewers instantly switching channels from CBS to FOX to catch a glimpse of the star-studded comedy show.
The NFL and its broadcasters were understandably frustrated to see their audience vanish in an instant. Realizing that halftime performances could no longer be mere fillers, the league, and CBS sought ways to retain viewers. One thing led to another, Michael Jackson agreed to perform, and the rest, as they say, is history.
