Pepsi Steps Aside as Super Bowl Halftime Show Sponsor, as NFL Cites “Incredible” Interest From Potential Partners

Alex Weprin
Updated ·2 min read
31

The Super Bowl halftime show will be getting a new sponsor.

After a decade as the lead sponsor of the marquee NFL event, Pepsi will be stepping aside from the halftime show, as it focuses its NFL marketing efforts on other areas, including a new Gatorade beverage that will be used during NFL games.

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The NFL, meanwhile, is already in talks with potential new sponsors, as it seeks a halftime show partner that can make the event “bigger, taking different aspects of it and making it stand way outside of the 12 minutes,” as a source close to the talks told The Hollywood Reporter last year.

In a statement Tuesday, the NFL touted the halftime show’s cultural cachet as talks are expected to heat up.

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“The Super Bowl Halftime performance has grown to become the most talked about musical event of the year and delivers what advertisers most crave — aggregating a massive live audience,” an NFL spokesperson told THR. “As you would expect, we’ve received an incredible amount of interest from the marketplace and look forward to announcing a new partner.”

The NFL is believed to be particularly interested in attracting a partner that could also use behind-the-scenes access or bonus content, potentially benefiting both the music industry or a video platform that hosts the content. Both Katy Perry and Lady Gaga have used behind-the-scenes footage from their halftime shows in documentaries, for example.

This year’s halftime show was one of the biggest yet, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar performing at Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles. Whatever brand the NFL partners with going forward, there is a strong likelihood that the show is only going to get a higher profile, expanding beyond the relatively short amount of time it has between the second and third quarters of the big game.

Pepsi has been the presenting sponsor of the halftime show (“The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show”) since 2013, with the company touting its “26 musical acts representing 168 Grammys” along the way. The show has long been a springboard for artists seeking to launch a tour or new album.

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