My suggestion is that they temporarily close all non-relevant subforums while the big event is taking place.
For example, during big playoff games, only the Seum should be open.
On election night, only HL should be open.
During WrestleMania, only TSC.
And so on. All the extra stuff can wait until the event is over with, then you reopen the whole coli.
Not everyone may want to participate in those discussions so that won't work. And I don't know how active the other forums are during major events anyways. Like during the super bowl, I doubt there was much traffic outside of that thread. But I don't have any data on the numbers.