Justin Timberlake To Play 2014 AFL Grand Final?
Star to give Super Bowl treatment to Australia’s game
Justin Timberlake could be in line to play this year's Australian Rules Grand Final as the AFL looks to put on a 'Super Bowl size' half time extravaganza.
Pop star Timberlake announced a national tour yesterday that will see in the country when the Grand Final – Australia's biggest annual sporting event – takes place this Saturday 27 September. Friday 26 he's booked to play Brisbane with his next show Wednesday 1 October in Sydney.
Industry sources are today firming around the possibility of Timberlake being the entertainment's main attraction as AFL pundits speculate that outgoing AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou will look to end his tenure on a bang.
Demetriou announced yesterday that he will be stepping down at the end of the 2014 season and has himself said previously that he wants the Grand Final entertainment to be on a much larger scale moving forward. Earlier this year Demetriou travelled to see this year's Super Bowl extravaganza – where Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers played at half time – and came back saying that he wanted to apply their approach to the Australian game.
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Live Nation downplayed the Timberlake suggestion to theMusic.com.au today, given he's in Brisbane the night before.
“Looking at his schedule I don't see how it can be possible,” was all a representative was prepared to say.
It is unclear if Timberlake will play extra shows in each city at this stage, and that may not be known until after general public tickets go on sale this Friday 7 March.
The AFL has opted for local artists in recent Grand Finals, with the likes of Hunters & Collectors, The Temper Trap and Paul Kelly playing since the ill-fated Meat Loaf performance of 2011, something that Demetriou admitted was a low point of his 11-year tenure as CEO on panel television show AFL 360 last night.
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