Apple Steps Up To Sponsor Super Bowl Halftime After Pepsi Exits
It was the end of an era when Pepsi closed the curtains on its sponsored Super Bowl halftime earlier this year.
After a decade of era-defining performances by Hollywood’s top artists, from Beyoncé to Prince to Madonna, Pepsi has left some big shoes to fill—so large that it takes the world’s most valuable company to do so.
Stepping up to the center stage is Apple Music which has just been revealed as the new sponsor for the massively-popular halftime show.
Apple’s streaming service and the National Football League had reached a multi-year deal that will commence next February’s championship.
The Super Bowl is one of America’s most watched television events yearly, with over 120 million people tuning in for last year’s match. And with Apple’s long-standing history with music, this partnership feels like a long time coming.
On the heels of the announcement, it was also made public that Rihanna will be headlining the show. This would mark the first time the Fenty founder is performing since the Grammys in 2018, as well as her debut Super Bowl appearance.
Financial terms of the deal were not made public, but according to Bloomberg, it might have cost the tech company somewhere in the neighborhood of US$50 million per year to secure.
According to CNBC, the deal comes as Apple is also one of the companies fighting for the rights to sell the NFL Sunday Ticket. This package deal allows football fans to tune in weekly to catch the game.
Of course, this is hardly Apple’s most significant Super Bowl move yet. The MVP will always be the one made in 1984.
