NFL looking for a bigger sponsor after Pepsi departs the Super Bowl Halftime Show

It’s the end of an era: Pepsi is discontinuing its deal with the NFL for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The National Football League is reportedly shopping around for a new sponsor for the performance. Coca-Cola, now’s your chance to prove your dominance once and for all!

But seriously folks… according to The Hollywood Reporter, the NFL is interested in striking up a partnership within the music industry or perhaps a streaming service–a platform that could take advantage of the kind of behind-the-scenes bonus content that has populated the backstage documentaries of artists like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and soon Jennifer Lopez.

In a statement to the outlet on Tuesday, an NFL spokesperson said, “The Super Bowl Halftime performance has grown to become the most talked about musical event of the year and delivers what advertisers most crave–aggregating a massive live audience. As you would expect, we’ve received an incredible amount of interest from the marketplace and look forward to announcing a new partner.”

THR suggested that the next chapter of the Halftime Show will go “beyond the relatively short amount of time it has between the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the big game.” A source last year told the outlet that the league is seeking to make the performance even “bigger, taking different aspects of it and making it stand way outside of the 12 minutes.”

Pepsi has been the brand behind the show since 2013, and has been credited with taking the annual extravaganza to buzzy new heights. The company will retain a relationship with the NFL, but will focus “marketing efforts on other areas, including a new Gatorade beverage that will be used during NFL games,” per THR. That’s not exactly “Lady Gaga dropping from the top of the stadium” levels of excitement, but good to see Pepsi getting back to its beverage roots!