NEW ORLEANS — Despite rumors that the extra amperage pumped into lighting and video for Beyonce’s well-received halftime show had something to do with the power disruption that put Super Bowl XLVII on hold, stadium management noted that the halftime spectacle was run off of generated power and an “abnormality” in one of the two feeder lines that power the stadium from an external substation was to blame. Lots of people — an all-time record, according to CBS — noticed the glitch, which disrupted the game from 7:37 pm to 8:30 pm.
Here’s the joint statement from Superdome management company SMG and Entergy, the power company:
“Shortly after the beginning of the second half of the Super Bowl in the Superdome, a piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system. Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue.
“Backup generators kicked in immediately as designed. Entergy and SMG subsequently coordinated start up procedures, ensuring that full power was safely restored to the Superdome.
“The fault-sensing equipment activated where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy’s feed into the facility. There were no additional issues detected.
Entergy and SMG will continue to investigate the root cause of the abnormality.”
CBS announced Feb. 4 that, while the total tally of viewers was not yet available, the game, where the Baltimore Ravens, after an early lead, held off resurgent San Francisco 49ers for a 34-31 victory, scored a household rating of 48.1 in metered markets — the highest ever, besting the 2011 Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packers/Pittsburgh Steelers (47.9) and the 2012 Super Bowl between the New York Giants/New England Patriots (48.1). Although a final tally of viewership for the 2013 Super Bowl was yet to be determined, both the 2012 and 2011 games exceeded 100 million.
