Apple Becomes Top Sponsor of Super Bowl Halftime

Apple has taken on Pepsi's usual role in the anticipated show.

Apple has taken on Pepsi’s usual role in the anticipated show.

For the past ten years, the primary sponsor of every Super Bowl Halftime show, an entertainment event as hotly anticipated as the Super Bowl game itself, has been Pepsi. However, following the conclusion of 2022’s Super Bowl, Pepsi announced that they would be stepping away from the sponsorship role, likely as a reaction to the NFL seeking higher payments for the sponsorship rights.

This week, a new corporation has taken up the mantle of the Halftime show’s sponsor: Apple, specifically Apple Music. Apple has been making more strides into the sporting sphere lately in their attempt to broaden their advertising appeal, and the Halftime show is one of the biggest strides they could make.

“Music and sports hold a special place in our hearts, so we’re very excited Apple Music will be part of music and football’s biggest stage,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to even more epic performances next year and beyond with the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show.”

“We couldn’t think of a more appropriate partner for the world’s most-watched musical performance than Apple Music, a service that entertains, inspires, and motivates millions of people around the world through the intersection of music and technology,” Nana-Yaw Asamoah, senior vice president of partner strategy for the NFL, said in a statement.

The next Super Bowl game is scheduled for Sunday, February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.