Green Day seeing pay day on sports scene
June 2nd, 2009 by AP
Green Day to perform tonight on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
Green Day definitely isn’t afraid of a little shameless promotion. The band that once released an album titled Dookie has done a lot of growing up in its nearly 20 years of crashing concert halls and selling out arenas. So it might make sense to believe that their recent efforts haven’t been so much desperation to spread the word as it is years of experience in knowing just the right ways to get their music stuck in our heads.
With the release of their most recent album, 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day has been hitting the streets hard and so far it has paid off. Even in a shortened debut week, the album quickly shot up to No. 1, and was followed with performances on Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, Good Morning America, The Late Show with David Letterman, and CBS Sunday Morning.
Tonight, the band will make yet another appearance, this time on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien before spending four consecutive nights (beginning June 9) with Carson Daly.
But they haven’t limited themselves to talk shows and comedy sketches. Green Day’s music has recently dominated the sports arena, being played during highlight reels and pregame intros.
ESPN used 21st Century Breakdown’s Know Your Enemy in a package of highlights from the NBA playoffs triple-overtime thriller between the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls. It was used again this past weekend during a Women’s College World Series softball game as well as being played during highlights on the networks other various shows.
It’s not just Know Your Enemy, though, that has received the extra air time. The network has made good use of 21 Guns, also featured on the newly released album, along with American Idiot’s Holiday, and Nimrod’s Hitchin’ A Ride.
The video for Know Your Enemy was premiered during this year’s NCAA Championship game, and the band was a part of a promotional giveaway April 21 in Anaheim, CA along with Fox Sports West just prior to the Angels and Detroit Tigers game in an effort to promote awareness and community outreach for Green Initiatives.
All of the recent air time has sparked rumors that Green Day might have a contract with either ESPN or Fox. If so, it might be one of the best moves the band has made in terms of promoting its music to a diverse audience. For hardcore fans hoping the band has not yet gone that far, we’ll just assume they are closet sports fans.
Tags: 21 Guns, 21st Century Breakdown, ESPN, Fox, green day, Hitchin A Ride, Know Your Enemy
