China will play a part in the USA's most-watched sporting event this year, as the NFL announced Thursday that Chinese celebrity Kris Wu will serve as Super Bowl LIIAmbassador for NFL China.
As part of his duties, Wu will perform at the Super Bowl LIVE festival on an outdoor Minneapolis stage the day before the Feb 4 championship game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.
"It is my pleasure to be named ambassador to one of the world's most recognizable sports and entertainment events," said Wu, who will be the first Chinese artist to take part in a Super Bowl event.
The Chinese singer and actor has been well-received on iTunes with non-Chinese hits like "Deserve" and "B.M."
Feted with 27 million Weibo followers and over 5 million Instagram fans, Wu will use his celebrity status to help promote NFL football beyond its reported 250 million fans in China, after having successfully served as brand ambassador to Burberry and Mercedes-Benz.
Despite these numbers, Wu's fame doesn't necessarily have a broad appeal. Last year's Wu-starring vehicle Somewhere Only We Know took $37 million at the box office in its first-week, but ultimately received a mixed reception along with a 4.1 Douban peer review score. Wu also gained infamy with last year's big meme "Do you even freestyle?", an online joke that was mostly at his expense.
Previously to asking for Wu's help, the NFL has tried numerous ways to tap into the Chinese market but, to this date, have failed to host an NFL game in China. After over a decade of failed attempts, the NFL said in 2016 it will host a pre-season in China this year.
Wu's performance will be broadcast in China by Tencent Sports, which also stream Super Bowl LII live on Monday, February 5 at 7:30am, Beijing time.
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