The centerpiece of Springsteen's promotional campaign will be his Feb. 1 performance at the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIII Halftime Show at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla., not so coincidentally following the Jan. 27 release of "Dream."

The NFL's entertainment division has had its eye on Springsteen as a possible halftime performer for years, but the Super Bowl's spectacle seemed at odds with the singer's artistic aesthetic. But Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' performance at last year's game changed his mind.

"Bruce and I both thought that Tom and the Heartbreakers and the TV production team did a great job, and there was this great balance between excitement and music that just came through so well," Springsteen's longtime manager Jon Landau says. "We talked about it, and we said, 'If it can stay that music-oriented and at the same time stay exciting—it's the Super Bowl—let's explore it.' "

Charles Coplin, NFL VP of programming and the halftime show's co-executive producer, says Springsteen more than meets the NFL's "loose criteria" for a halftime performer. "We try and find acts that we think will resonate with large amounts of people, that have music that a large group of people can attach themselves to in a short period of time, performers who can work really well within a large stadium and at the same time feel powerful and intimate to the people watching at home," Coplin says. "I'd be lying if I didn't tell you we'd been trying to knock down Jon's door for many years."

In addition to Coplin, the NFL Productions show is co-produced by Don Mischer, Ricky Kirschner and Glenn Weiss. Given the Super Bowl stage, this show won't showcase Springsteen's introspective side. "Bruce has a wide range of styles and approaches," Landau says. "But this is a party."

The NFL says the Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched musical performance in the world, and more than 148 million U.S. viewers tuned in for last year's show. 2009's event will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 territories.

Already, Springsteen's face is plastered all over NBC's Super Bowl promotions and the NFL's Super Bowl Web site. NBC also debuted Springsteen's title track from the new album on "Sunday Night Football" and is playing Springsteen music in stadiums and on televised playoff games.

And while the Super Bowl timing wasn't exactly intentional, it doesn't hurt. "We knew we would not have the album ready to go in time for Christmas, but we felt like we'd be ready in time to be on line for a January release," Landau says. "And obviously the week before the Super Bowl looked like a good time to do it. But we're approaching the performance at the Super Bowl independent of the album—we are aiming to put together the best, most entertaining 12 minutes we can."

But the Super Bowl isn't the only promotional outlet for Springsteen's team. He just won his second Golden Globe for his contribution to the soundtrack to "The Wrestler" and performed at HBO's "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial," the highest-profile gig surrounding the inauguration of Barack Obama.

All of this is heady stuff for Springsteen's loyal fans, who are accustomed to a decidedly less aggressive schedule. Two weeks prior to the "Dream" release, Wal-Mart became the exclusive U.S. retailer for a new "Greatest Hits" compilation. When the deal was announced, some Springsteen purists ignited the blogosphere in opposition to the artist's affiliation with the mega retailer, arguing that he was selling out to a corporation.

Landau protects Springsteen's image fiercely, and the controversy surrounding the Wal-Mart deal did not escape his attention. "I know these discussions happen online and elsewhere, and I don't want to get bogged down in them, but let's start with the premise that Bruce is already in Wal-Mart," Landau says. "Wal-Mart has been 15% of our sales in recent years. It's not a question of going into Wal-Mart; we're there. They, and other retailers, are all looking for some way to differentiate themselves, and we try to accommodate each one."

Besides, Landau adds, "We're not doing any advertising for Wal-Mart, we haven't endorsed Wal-Mart or anybody else. We're letting Sony do its job making sure the record is well-presented in as many places as possible."

One of those places is online. Springsteen offered free downloads of new songs and streaming video through Amazon, iTunes, MySpace and the "Guitar Hero" videogame. Gamers will be able to download the new album's "My Lucky Day" and "Born to Run" on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions of "Guitar Hero: World Tour" from Feb. 27 until Feb. 4. Afterward, they will cost $2 each.

Springsteen also remains commitment to the road. The "Magic" tour, which concluded in summer 2008, grossed $230 million worldwide and was named the top tour at the 2008 Billboard Touring Conference. Landau declined to discuss details of the upcoming trek, including speculation that Springsteen might play major festivals like Bonnaroo and Glastonbury. "Touring remains the lifeblood for us and one of the reasons why is we have a certain approach to touring," Landau says. "A show is a living, breathing thing, not a Bruce Springsteen museum of, 'Here are my masterpieces from the past in a glass case.' "

As busy as the Springsteen team is, there will be at least one more venture that will be received joyously by fans: a deluxe reissue of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" that will be similar to Columbia's 2005 30th-anniversary boxed-set treatment of "Born to Run." The "Darkness" package "would involve remastering that record, doing the kind of super-creative reconstruction and documentary of how it all came about and finding usable live footage from that point in time," Landau says. "That's a big one, and not that far from completion, and when we can find six weeks to sit down and finish it I'm sure we will."

But right now the focus is on the new release and the myriad activities surrounding it. "We've never put out two new E Street albums back to back so close to each other," Landau says. "Fifteen months apart, that's extraordinary for us."

Even super.