Whether you feel American Football needs its nationality qualifier or not, this week is undoubtedly one of the largest in the sporting calendar each year.

It’s also a tricky time for anyone working in content marketing. If your client is an official sponsor, there’s immense pressure to get it right of course. But for those of us whose brands want to unofficially acknowledge the momentous occasion without breaching guidelines, some more creative thinking is required[1].

Luckily, Vox – providing our Read of the Week – are here to give us the lowdown on what we are and are not allowed to say when it comes to major trademarked events. Are we all ready for this summer’s international football[2] tournament for European nations?

A new challenger appears[3]! This year saw Facebook enter the Big Game battle for the first time. Revue erm… reviewed their input, along with that of Google and Amazon. And if you missed anything, Forbes kindly put together a round-up of the best ads from the season-closer.

There was another first from Google too, who finally revealed that YouTube earns a little bit more than pocket change each year. Kotaku tried to get to the bottom of the exodus of popular streamers from Twitch, and what it means for the platform. Campaign wrote about how marketers will react to the end of trackers for third-party data, particularly with consumers increasingly aware of what they share. And the New York Times contemplated the role of journalists and influencers in the news cycle – particularly when followers expect instant reactions to seismic events.

READ OF THE WEEK: Why brands pay for the privilege of uttering the phrase ‘Super Bowl’[4]
[Vox]

Google, Facebook and Amazon compete in the Super Bowl
[Revue]

The very best ads of the 2020 Super Bowl
[Forbes]

YouTube is a $15 billion-a-year business, Google reveals
[The Verge]

Top streamers are leaving Twitch. Why?
[Kotaku]

Google’s two-year cookie deadline: are advertisers ready to change?
[Campaign]

What will you do when the culture war comes for you?
[New York Times]

[1] Public service announcement: Superb Owl has been done to death and is only acceptable if you’re an avian charity
[2] Soccer, if you like
[3] Life without meme explanation sites would be different
[4] Yeah, we said it. But it’s probably okay because we were quoting someone else?