It's Goodbye Pepsi in a deal said to be worth $50 million.
From the NFL's "NFL introduces the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show" posted early Friday morning:
The NFL today announced Apple Music as the new partner for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The multi-year partnership brings together the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the most-watched musical performance of the year, with Apple Music, which celebrates musicians, songwriters, producers and fans, and offers the world's best music listening experience with a catalog of over 90 million songs, and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio. Apple revolutionized the music experience with iPod and iTunes, and today continues the award-winning tradition with Apple Music.
"We are proud to welcome Apple Music to the NFL family as our new partner for the iconic Super Bowl Halftime Show," said Nana-Yaw Asamoah, SVP of Partner Strategy for the NFL. "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."
My take: An NFL press release crafted in Cupertino. Speculation that Apple has snagged the NFL Sunday Ticket runs wild as the company spends big to cash in on sports.
UPDATE: From Tripp Mickle in Friday's New York Times...
Apple Music will replace Pepsi as sponsor in a deal that the N.F.L. has been shopping around for about $50 million, said three people familiar with the negotiations.
See also:
Music and Sports could take such a device category to mainstream from its current niche status.
I lost interest in the NFL when Georgia Frontierre became the owner of the LA RAMS. I haven’t watched since then. That means I haven’t seen players/coaches throwing MSFT’s Surface. Is this true?