HBO Just Flew A Dragon Over A Baseball Game
HBO had a House of the Dragon CGI beast fly over the Yankees-Guardians playoff game.
This article is more than 2 years old
HBO’s House of the Dragon had a massive showing during the New York Yankees-Cleveland Guardians playoff game. Warner Bros. Discovery decided to promote the show by having a CGI dragon flap its wings and fly over the field. The promotional spot was met with many eye rolls from fans online.
Brian Curtis of The Ringer tweeted out following HBO’s House of the Dragon promotional spot last night that he “died a little inside.” Even baseball analyst and former ESPN host Katie Nolan questioned the move by the studio. Play-by-play baseball commentator Bob Costas introduced the 40-second bit.
This isn’t the first time a Game of Thrones property was shamelessly plugged during a major sports game. The final season had an extended-length Super Bowl ad in 2019. With HBO’s House of the Dragon’s popularity rising each week, it’s no wonder that WBD wants to keep the conversation.
For wrestling fans out there, you probably remember that Warner Bros. even made sure HBO’s House of the Dragon was promoted during an episode of All Elite Wrestling on TBS. During an episode of the show, the wrestling promotion had House of the Dragon graphics around the stage set. A promotional package that mixed in some of the scenes from the series and wrestling highlights even aired at the very start of the show.
The massive push for HBO’s House of the Dragon is amidst a backlash online from fans who claimed the show is a tad too dark for their liking. It’s not that the subject matter on the show itself is too dark, but rather the show’s visuals are a problem for some. The backlash occurred right after the episode “Driftmark” aired on HBO.
HBO Max’s Help Twitter account responded to the fan’s complaints, saying that the dark scenes in House of the Dragon were “an intentional creative decision.” Fans weren’t satisfied with the response and continued to rag on the show anyway.
Despite the recent backlash, HBO’s House of the Dragon is still a phenomenon. According to Deadline, the series premiere surpassed Games of Thrones’ premiere of being the biggest in Sky Atlantic’s 11-year history. The premiere drew more than 4 million viewers on Sky.
Sky Atlantic also announced that HBO’s House of the Dragon rivaled the ratings of other popular streaming shows, such as Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Netflix’s Stranger Things.
The response to HBO’s House of the Dragon so far has been stellar. The series currently holds an 86% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with an 83% audience score. The premiere’s overall viewership was 10 million, making it the largest in HBO and HBO Max history.
While the promotional stunt at the New York Yankees game may’ve been a turnoff for some show fans, that doesn’t mean they will entirely give up on HBO’s House of the Dragon. The prequel will become one of the biggest shows of the last few years and will undoubtedly have a presence in many award shows. Maybe next time, WBD will have a less cringy promotional spot for the series.
