Apple Music is set to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show in February, replacing the NFL’s long-time choice Pepsi, the organisation announced in a press release on Friday.

The NFL said that Apple would be bringing its catalogue of over 90 million songs to mark Apple Music’s first year as the sponsor of the iconic show on Sunday February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona

The football organisation said that for this year’s Super Bowl, over 120 million people watched the halftime show as some of the most famous names in rap music came out to perform like Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the “Queen of Hip-Soul,” Mary J. Blige. 

The move by the NFL and Apple is the latest in a long line of moves by streaming service operators as they search for the next source of growth. Sports is looking like that source. A Sports Business Journal article reported that 95 of the 100 most watched programs last year were sports telecasts, of which 75 of them were NFL games. 

While other streaming services like Google, Amazon and ESPN have been speaking with the NFL, it seems like the organisation has got the furthest with Apple as all of them vie for the right to package Sunday football games, according to a New York Times report. But the NFL’s price is steep, $2.5 billion. A significant bump from the current $1.5 billion deal that it currently has with DirecTV. 

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,” said Nana-Yaw Asamoah, SVP of Partner Strategy for the NFL in the press release. 

Apple rarely steps up to sponsor things outside of its control, especially outside of its ecosystem, but its not unheard of. The tech company sponsored the Met Gala in an effort to promote the Apple Watch as a fashion accessory back in 2016.