Let the games begin: A rundown of some of this season’s early football advertisers

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—football season.

While brands and fans go crazy for the Super Bowl each year, there’s no shortage of excitement around kickoff time. As this year’s NFL season starts tonight with the Baltimore Ravens taking on back-to-back champs the Kansas City Chiefs, advertisers will have already flooded the red zone with football-themed campaigns.

Here’s a primer on a handful of them as the season begins.

Beer battle: It’s not football without beer ads, and there’s been a bit of a shift in dynamic between two of the biggest brewers in recent years. After 33 years of exclusivity, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra parent AB InBev relinquished its title as the exclusive alcohol advertiser of the Super Bowl in 2022, opening the door to that event for competitors like Molson Coors.

Already, Molson Coors is back in the game:

• Miller Lite is “going all out this season,” according to a Molson Coors blog post, with 18 NFL partnerships, a deal with ESPN Fantasy Football, a sweepstakes, and a new TV and digital ad coming this month.
• Coors Light, meanwhile, is more focused on college football, with 40 team deals, a partnership with ESPN College GameDay, a sponsorship of the Pardon My Take podcast, and a TV and social ad campaign set to start running this month.

Bud Light, the NFL’s official beer sponsor, is targeting both pro and college football as well:

• In August, the beer brand brought back its “Easy to Sunday” campaign from last season, rolled out its 2024 NFL team packaging, and is offering a giveaway of NFL Sunday Ticket access for this season in partnership with YouTube.
• On the college football front, Bud Light tapped comedian Shane Gillis to star in and co-direct a content series that will run through the college football season.
• Corona, also part of the AB InBev portfolio, teamed with Eli Manning for the release of a new game called “Lime Wedge Football.”

And Modelo, the official beer of the College Football Playoff, started running a TV campaign Aug. 29 as part of its 360 “Full-Time Fans” campaign for the 2024-25 season.

Feeling bubbly: Big Soda is also a football mainstay, and this season is shaping up to be no different, with companies including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Dr Pepper all lined up on the sidelines:

• Pepsi, which sat out the Super Bowl this year, is partnering with the Los Angeles Chargers for a giveaway of a line of limited-edition, co-branded merch, and tickets to a Chargers home game.
• ​​Coke Zero Sugar is going the college route as the exclusive CPG sponsor of the new EA Sports College Football 25 game. Its fall football campaign spans platforms including linear, digital, social, experiential, and OOH.
• Dr Pepper is bringing back its satirical college football drama Fansville for a seventh season.

Chow down: What’s gameday without snacks and apps? With several food brands and restaurant chains already running football campaigns, fans are likely in for a hungry season.

Like Bud Light and Dr Pepper, Applebee’s is hopping on the content train this football season with a six-part mini-series called Pre-Seasoning—An Applebee’s Training Camp. The series, created as part of the chain’s new deal with the NFL, airs on Sept. 10. Applebee’s is also partnering with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell for new campaigns.

• Cup Noodles also turned to the 49ers, tapping tight end George Kittle for its first NFL campaign, which is tied to fantasy football.
• Buffalo Wild Wings landed recently retired Eagles center Jason Kelce for its campaign.
• Snickers is working with 21 NFL teams and a “chocomancer” who reads fortunes to “predict the future based on the bite of a Snickers.”
• Auntie Anne’s struck up a partnership with Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson tied to his signature dijon-mustard brand, “Bijan Mustardson.”
• Hellmann’s, which has appeared in the Super Bowl for four years, worked with Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis to release “the world’s first parfum de mayonnaise.”

Something for everyone: There’s no shortage of other industries represented across the football ad landscape this year. In the insurance space, State Farm is continuing its work with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and added Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson to its roster, and Nationwide, which has an 11-year relationship with the NFL, is sticking with Peyton Manning, a longtime partner of the brand.

• Marriott made Jason Kelce the first “fanbassador” of Marriott Bonvoy and Courtyard by Marriott for his first season off the field, and Kelce will roll out a new Marriott Bonvoy experience every Thursday of the NFL season.
• Lowe’s renewed its deal with the NFL for the sixth time and is running several spots as part of its “All the Ways We Help” campaign featuring players like Travis Kelce, Christian McCaffrey, Dak Prescott, and CJ Stroud.
• The Farmer’s Dog, which won the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter in 2023, is airing its first sports-focused ad beginning during the Chiefs-Ravens game.
• Michaels signed a three-year deal to become an official partner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Sony announced a deal to be an official technology partner of the NFL, as well as the league’s official headphones partner.

Correction 9/6/2024: This piece has been updated to correctly reflect Modelo’s corporate ownership.

Update 9/6/2024: This piece has been updated to reflect that Applebee’s is releasing a six-part mini-series, not an eight-part mini-series.