Photos: Zedd/Twitter
I’ve been saying it for years: professional sports leagues need to utilize prominent music producers/DJs at their biggest events. It just makes too much sense, for reasons I outlined nearly a year ago:
While this house music lover’s petition for Tiesto to be the featured act at the Super Bowl hasn’t come to fruition just yet, a couple of pro sports leagues are trending in the right direction. Zedd, another huge name in the EDM world, will perform at a pair of major sporting events over the next two weeks.
NHL All-Star Game Introductions
With the NHL All-Star Game taking place in Vegas for the first time, it’s only fitting a big-name DJ joins the festivities. The NHL announced Monday that Zedd will be spinning a set during player introductions at the All-Star Game.
This setup should make for an exciting start to the festivities. Connor McDavid (excuse me, McJesus) skating onto the ice while ‘Clarity’ bumps throughout T-Mobile Arena might actually be more entertaining than the game.
As a Blackhawks fan, I’ll also be listening closely for the song selection when Alex DeBrincat is announced as an All-Star for the first time. My pick would be ‘Stay The Night’ for a couple of reasons. The Cat is bound to stay around the NHL All-Star scene for years to come, and the track is also a favorite of the Four Feathers Podcast crew.
NHL All-Star Weekend takes place from Feb. 4-5 in Vegas. Zedd will perform before the game itself on Feb. 5 at 2 PM CST, which will air on ABC.
Super Bowl LVI Player Warmups
The Super Bowl halftime show is always the biggest sports/music crossover of the year. Back in September 2021, Pepsi announced a star-studded lineup of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar for Super Bowl LVI.
While an EDM artist has yet to crack that slot at the Super Bowl, Zedd will be the official pregame DJ during player warmups. The warmup time slot allows for more wiggle room than Zedd will have during his NHL All-Star Game introductions performance, mainly due to not having to work around as many PA announcements.
If it’s anything like his Ultra 2019 set (one of my personal Zedd favorites), fans at SoFi Stadium should be in for a treat.
Due to the massive amount of pregame show coverage that will take place, TV viewers will likely only be able to pick up snippets of Zedd’s set during warmups.
So if you’re at the game, enjoy the bangers while Joe Burrow (excuse me again, Joe Cool, Joey Franchise, etc.) and Matthew Stafford sling the pigskin around to their receivers. And if you’re watching from your couch, keep your ears open when the broadcast features a sideline report or stadium look-in before kickoff.
Super Bowl LVI kicks off at 5:30 PM CST on Feb. 13 and the game will air on NBC.
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