For ten years, Pepsi has been responsible for the musical entertainment at the Super Bowl. The drinks manufacturer turns the performances into a top-class pop spectacle that attracts worldwide attention. Now he’s passing the scepter on to Apple Music.
Big change on the sponsor front: As the US football league NFL announces, Apple Music is now replacing Pepsi as the sponsor for the Super Bowl halftime show. “Music and sports are very important to us, so we are very pleased that Apple Music will be part of the biggest stage for music and football,” quoted the statement Oliver Schusser, Vice President of the music streaming platform Apple Music and the headphone manufacturer belonging to the group beats
They look forward to even more epic performances in the coming year and beyond. The official name changes to “Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show”.
The cooperation is the biggest exclamation point in a strategy that has been visible for months: Apple is pushing more and more into the sports market. For example, contracts have already been signed with the US soccer league MLS to broadcast the games via Apple TV in the future. The first Super Bowl with Apple as a halftime sponsor will take place on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. In the meantime, Apple wants to feed its followers with insights into the ideas for the show via Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter and Co.
Around 800 million viewers worldwide followed the Super Bowl this year, around 120 million people in the USA alone. At the last Pepsi-sponsored halftime show in 2022, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blidge, and Kendrick Lamar. It was already clear in May that Pepsi would withdraw from the Super Bowl. The beverage manufacturer announced that it did not want to continue the decades-long cooperation with the NFL. The change from a more classic performance by an artist in the half-time of the finale to a world-renowned pop spectacle of the extra class is mainly attributed to Pepsi.
Among others, Megastars like Lady Gaga, Shakira, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Kate Perry or Bruno Mars performed at Super Bowl halftime shows by Pepsi. Pepsi first sponsored the event in 2007, but was then replaced by tire manufacturer Bridgestone. The US company has been responsible without interruption since 2013.
