The Tremendous Bowl is famously identified for its commercials. It is perhaps the most-watched sporting occasion in the US, however some folks watch the massive recreation only for the advertisements. The commercials aren’t the one facet of the Nationwide Soccer League’s championship recreation that receives company sponsorship: The halftime present is now sponsored by Apple Music, after a lengthy relationship with Pepsi got here to an in depth.
However there’s one other company Tremendous Bowl custom that has fallen by the wayside lately: Awarding a brand new automobile to the sport’s Most worthy participant, a ritual that ended seven years in the past. It initially started when Normal Motors awarded Inexperienced Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr a model new Corvette after the primary Tremendous Bowl in 1967. Starr gained a second Corvette in 1968. The GM custom continued till 2015 when Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, gained a Chevrolet Colorado. Brady instantly gave the truck away to a teammate.
After 2015, Hyundai took over from Normal Motors because the official automobile companion of the Nationwide Soccer League. The Korean automaker wasn’t so eager on handing out free vehicles, placing an finish to the Tremendous Bowl giveaway and solely as soon as handing out a pair of Genesis coupes to the MVPs of the Professional Bowl.
In response to Automotive Information, Hyundai discovered extra worth in sponsoring groups and broadcasts than it did handing out vehicles. Hyundai Motor America chief advertising officer Dean Evans stated in 2018, “you should buy the sponsorship, after which in case you don’t have the funds for to run sufficient TV commercials, you nearly don’t seem like the sponsor.”
It is smart for automobile producers to purchase advert time on tv — the automaker absolutely controls these 30 seconds. When a automobile firm provides a automobile to a well-known athlete, the athlete may ditch their new automobile in a matter of days, generally publicly — placing a detrimental spin on one thing the automaker hoped would give some superstar shine to its product.
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Hyundai ended its partnership with the Nationwide Soccer League in 2019. No automaker has taken up the mantle since.