Why Isn’t Bon Jovi Playing The Super Bowl Halftime Show?

What do Beyonce, Madonna, the Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Janet Jackson all have in common?  They have headlined the Super Bowl halftime show.  Yesterday, the NFL officially announced that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be joining Bruno Mars for this year's halftime show.  Which begs the question, why wasn't Bon Jovi invited to play this year?

For starters, this year's Super Bowl is in Bon Jovi's home state of New Jersey.  Since Bruce Springsteen played five years ago, wouldn't Bon Jovi would be the obvious choice?  Bon Jovi's certainly a big enough act.  They've sold over 150 million albums over the last 3 decades and they are coming off the highest grossing single tour of 2013.

Bon Jovi also has more mass appeal than Bruno Mars.  Admittedly, Bruno Mars is a popular artist, but he's not nearly as well known as Bon Jovi is.  Bon Jovi also appeals to a much wider age range than Bruno Mars would, especially among men.

And you know Bon Jovi would love to play the Super Bowl.  Jon Bon Jovi is an avid football fan.  He once co-owned an Arena Football League Team and was recently rumored to be part of a group attempting to buy the Buffalo Bills.  His son, Jesse, even plays football at Notre Dame.

So why isn't Bon Jovi playing the halftime show?  It seems like a no brainer.  Clearly, Roger Goodell missed the ball on this one.