Super Bowl and Sphere—how 5 brands are advertising on the Las Vegas venue

The Las Vegas Sphere has brought new relevance to out-of-home advertising around the Super Bowl, as numerous brands are flocking to the venue’s giant digital billboard to draw off interest in the upcoming game. While marketers such as Hellmann’s have recently taken to Sphere’s exterior (dubbed “Exosphere”), this week’s ad placements are strictly reserved for NFL sponsors, Ad Age reported last week. This means some big brands had exclusive access to buying a spot, and those purchases are now coming to fruition in the form of animated flight maps, snow globes, football helmets and more. As the Super Bowl draws ever nearer, here are the ways in which five brands have already advertised on Sphere this week. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Enter here Adidas Adidas is leaving no doubts as to who it’s rooting for during the Super Bowl. On the Sphere this week, it aired a tribute to Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, who is also an Adidas-sponsored athlete. The creative shows various iterations of Mahomes throwing a football as Adidas imagery flashes behind and above him. Mahomes flexes, jumps and tosses a ball into the stratosphere before it comes hurtling back down and lands in his hands. The words “You got this” slowly grow in size across the screen. View this post on Instagram A post shared by adidas (@adidas) While Nike is the official game day uniform and sideline apparel sponsor of the NFL, Adidas is a consumer product partner for gloves and cleats, an NFL spokesperson confirmed. This connection granted the three-stripe brand Sphere access during Super Bowl week. Adidas is not expected to air an official Super Bowl ad on TV. FedEx FedEx’s Sphere takeover seems inspired by previous activations that have turned the venue into planet Earth. The spot begins with a view above the clouds, which soon dissipate to reveal a flight map of North America, with planes crisscrossing to and fro various parts of the world. Those flight paths then become the tracks of an assembly line carrying packages, wrapping around the entirety of the Sphere. The tracks transform again to highways on which FedEx trucks drive, one of which is carrying the Lombardi trophy. The final animation shows a delivery man—modeled after a real FedEx employee named Mikail Farrar—dropping off the iconic symbol of the Super Bowl, set to be awarded to the Kansas City Chiefs or San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. As with Adidas, FedEx has made no indication of plans to air an ad during the Super Bowl. NFL In no world would the NFL strike an exclusive partnership with the Sphere during Super Bowl week without advertising on the venue itself. The league’s takeover spans multiple animations that are rolling out through the week, including a clock counting down the days until the game, a visual welcoming fans to Las Vegas and graphics highlighting the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. More NFL news: Watch the league’s Super Bowl teaser View this post on Instagram A post shared by NFL (@nfl) One such graphic that has already appeared is a transformation of the Sphere into the teams’ football helmets. View this post on Instagram A post shared by NFL (@nfl) During the game, NFL content will continue to run on Sphere, and will be tied to events occurring on the field. For example, if the Chiefs score a touchdown, a Chiefs graphic could be displayed on the venue soon after. The takeover will join the NFL’s three spots set to air during halftime, the third quarter and fourth quarter, respectively. Verizon Verizon this week also turned the Sphere into a football helmet, apparently a perfect canvas for doing so given the venue’s roundness. But whereas the NFL’s helmets were static, Verizon’s spun around as if on a real head, while its visor reflected an animation of the Las Vegas skyline. The helmet then lifted backwards to reveal a football stadium on the inside, where Verizon promoted Super Bowl messaging to a backdrop of fireworks and a spinning pigskin. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Verizon (@verizon) Verizon’s Sphere activation is part of a large push around this year’s big game after the company sat out 2023. It will air a commercial at some point during gameplay and is also hosting “Verizon Live,” a four-day event in Las Vegas taking place at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club. Anheuser-Busch InBev The beer giant has shown up this week with Sphere activations for both Budweiser and Bud Light. For Budweiser, the venue was transformed into a snow globe in which the brewer’s iconic Clydesdales trotted along, pulling a beer carriage past a bar during a wintry night. Watch Budweiser’s in-game commercial For #SBLVIII, The King of Beers is now The King of Spheres. 👑🍺 #DeliveringSince1876 pic.twitter.com/oFSt8ROt1O— Budweiser (@budweiserusa) February 6, 2024 Bud Light’s ad was less sentimental, centering instead on a Bud Light bottle that can’t sit still because of the apparent power of the beverage inside. The Sphere is then turned into a receptacle itself, with beer slowly draining towards the bottom as if someone was drinking it. The Bud Light Genie’s bottle is in Vegas, and that means wishes… like fridges full of beer, sweet rides, and epic nights out with friends wishesCheck out what else he’s got in store for Super Bowl LVIII at the link in Bud Light’s bio pic.twitter.com/qACrTQc3En— Bud Light (@budlight) February 7, 2024 The takeovers complement TV spots from both Budweiser and Bud Light that will air during the game itself. And while AB InBev’s Michelob Ultra hasn’t yet appeared on the Sphere, an activation wouldn’t be surprising given its own big presence around this year’s game. Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl commercial stars Lionel Messi. Watch Bud Light’s Super Bowl spot Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Super Bowl and Sphere—how 5 brands are advertising on the Las Vegas venue

Featured Stories