Tag: NFL

Last Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII–the most-watched NFL championship game in six years, with an average audience of 113M–offered brands the unique opportunity to reach fans with splashy, statement-making campaigns on a global stage.

NFL sponsors chose an array of activations during the broadcast, including featured segments, billboard/ad/logo pop-ups, and naming rights for key elements–like the Apple Music Halftime Show.

More than 15 brands leveraged one of the above assets in Super Bowl LVII:

• Amazon
• Amazon Web Services
• Apple Music
• Bud Light
• Crown Royal
• General Motors
• Google Pixel
• Jeep
• M&M’s
• Michelob Ultra
• Pepsi Zero Sugar
• RAM
• T-Mobile
• Walt Disney Pictures
• Youtube TV

On the broadcast front, 46 brands featured more than 100 celebrities in hotly anticipated  commercials throughout the game–most of which mark the start of multifaceted campaigns that include social posts, additional ads, and other activations.  

Check out the full list of Super Bowl LVII advertisers and their featured celebrities:

Only four teams remain as we head to the NFL Conference Championships this Sunday–one of the biggest days in football in the lead-up to the Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles will host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, while the Kansas City Chiefs will host 2022 Super Bowl finalists, the Cincinnati Bengals, for the AFC title. 

How do these teams stack up within the league on the partnership front? The Eagles rank 10th by sponsorship deals, followed by the 49ers at #16, the Bengals at #18, and the Chiefs in the 31st spot.

Among the four remaining teams, three have playoff presenting sponsors:

• 49ers: United is the team’s top playoffs sponsor, while SAP, Zennni, & Cisco Systems also endorse the West Coast powerhouse. 
• Eagles: ACME Markets
• Bengals: N/A
• Chiefs: Bud Light

The Philadelphia Eagles, flying high after a stellar season, have a total social following of 11M across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, making them the 5th most followed NFL club. The team secured 105 sponsorship deals this year–including Lincoln Financial, Bud Light, and Toyota–up from 97 last season. The Eagles’ top sponsorship categories are Beverage – Alcohol, Food Products, and Technology.

With a total social following of 9.9M, the San Francisco 49ers are the 8th most followed team in the league, and count United, Levi’s, and SAP among their more than 90 brand partnerships. Technology, Beverage – Alcohol, and Media lead the Niners’ list of sponsorship categories.

Super Bowl LIV Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, take the 10th spot on the social media list with 8.9M followers. The Chiefs boast more than 60 partnerships this season–including GEHA, T-Mobile, and Hy-Vee–while their top categories are Beverage – Alcohol, Retail, and Education.

The 23rd most followed NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals’ social fandom stands at 5.3M. With just under 90 sponsorships, the Bengals inked a new naming rights deal this year with HR & payroll solution provider PayCor before the season began.

Last week, the NFL announced Apple Music as the new Super Bowl Halftime Show sponsor, replacing longtime sponsor Pepsi who leveraged the halftime show for 10 years. Superstar Rihanna was also named as the show’s headliner for the upcoming Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, 2023.

With nearly 350M social media followers across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, Rihanna ranks 6th within music artists on social according to SponsorUnited’s recent Music Artist Report. Rihanna also ranks 6th in engagement, averaging 1.2M likes/comments/shares across her 30+ branded social posts over the last year. Her most engaged social post–with Savage x Fenty, a brand she founded with TechStyle Fashion Group–has over 5.5M engagements since January 17th. Notably, of the top 25 most engaging music artists ranked in the report, 20 are female.

Speaking of Rihanna and Savage x Fenty, music artists are increasingly betting big on their own brands–and winning. 4 of the top 5 brands with the highest social engagement during the last 12 months were Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), JLO Beauty (Jennifer Lopez), r.e.m. beauty (Ariana Grande) and Savage x Fenty. Of the top 50 most engaging brands, those owned by artists garnered more attention.

And while music artists have long added value to Cosmetics, Clothing and Alcohol brands, artists like Timbaland, Kanye West, and Dua Lipa are already charting the future of artist ownership in new categories. 

Timbaland’s Beatclub, a digital platform for music artists, aims to revolutionize the way music makers connect. Kanye West’s sports marketing agency, Donda Sports, now represents clients like NBA star Jaylen Brown and NFL star Aaron Donald. And superstar Dua Lipa released her first weekly lifestyle newsletter, Service95, in February 2022.