As football season kicks off, here are some of the brands advertising alongside America’s favorite sport

Love it or hate it, football season is back. Given the popularity of the NFL and college football, plus the fact the season goes on for *checks notes* almost half the year—culminating in arguably the biggest advertising event on the calendar—brands are abundant.

For advertisers, live sports have become increasingly crucial, as they’re one of the few places left on traditional TV where they can reliably reach large audiences. In recent weeks, several brands have rolled out commercials and partnerships meant to capitalize on the football hype.

Welcome to the big league: PepsiCo might have relinquished rights to the Super Bowl halftime show, but the food and beverage giant still has a significant presence in the NFL.

• Gatorade is promoting its Fast Twitch energy drink with branded towels on NFL sidelines, plus partnerships with NFL RedZone, DraftKings, and San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
• PepsiCo is running a 60-second spot featuring some of its beverage and Frito-Lay snack brands starting Sunday.
• Called “Unretirement,” the ad stars former NFL players Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Dan Marino, Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, and Emmitt Smith, as well as current Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen. It pokes fun at certain athletes unretiring in recent years by imagining some of the older legends back on the field.

Pepsi Zero Sugar also recently partnered with the NFL to become the league’s “official zero” for the 2023–2024 season, and Pepsi CMO Todd Kaplan told Marketing Brew the Pepsi brand’s 125th anniversary campaign will include an NFL component.

Lowe’s renewed its partnership with the NFL earlier this year, making it the league’s “official community improvement partner,” and today released an ad featuring players like Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.

“We have a shared value system,” Jen Wilson, head of marketing at Lowe’s, said of the NFL partnership. “The NFL also commands an incredibly appealing live audience, one that certainly overlaps with our target market of millennial homeowners but also professionals.”

I love college: Meanwhile, other brands are rallying around college football.

• Modelo, the official beer sponsor of the College Football Playoff (CFP), is bringing back its “Full-Time Fans” campaign. This year, it includes three TV spots, and the brand is once again putting on a contest for fans to win $100,000 and a trip to the CFP National Championship.
• The CFP also now has an official avocado in Avocados From Mexico, which announced the partnership by encouraging “guacgating”—aka eating guacamole while watching football at home.

Watch the throne: Coors Light is appealing to die-hard football fans by selling a chair that comes with a cup holder that keeps drinks cold, a “tap handle” that turns cans into drafts, a back massager, bluetooth speakers, and a flag holder. It’s called the Coors Light Chill Throne, and only eight are available for just $750 each...

+1: NFL ad inventory remains a hot commodity. CBS Sports is 90% sold out of Super Bowl 58 ad inventory and 85% sold out for its regular season games. Even the Biden campaign is reportedly planning to advertise during the season opener.