Apple Plays Critical Role in Super Bowl 50

Apple will be returning to the Super Bowl for one of the first times since their now-famous and award winning ‘1984’ Super Bowl ad aired that same year. However, the company’s return for Super Bowl 50 won’t look quite the same as it has in the past. Instead of paying loads of money for advertising or sponsorship spots, Apple is navigating the road less traveled – the company has signed up to be a Super Bowl Host Committee sponsor.

What is the Super Bowl Host Committee, you ask? The Host Committee covers a lot of the behind-the-scenes work and planning that must occur when a city hosts an event the size of the Super Bowl. From event planning and security to transportation, hospitality, and more, the Host Committee is crucial to ensuring the event goes smoothly.

Typically, the host committee receives funding from local municipalities as well as from sponsors. This year, however, San Francisco and the Bay Area both declined to assist in funding the event – it is entirely privately sponsored. The CEO of this year’s Host Committee, Keith Bruce, has managed to raise $50 million from sponsors to cover the costs of the event. One of the first sponsors to jump on board was Apple.

In sponsoring the Host Committee, Apple doesn’t receive many of the same marketing benefits that sponsors of the actual event do. You won’t see any Apple billboards or signs posted around the stadium, and you won’t see Apple use the NFL logo in promotional materials. In fact, in an interview with Yahoo Finance, Keith Bruce noted that Apple has no interest in using the NFL’s logo. “Their opinion is that the NFL should pay them the right to use their mark. Because their mark is more valuable than the NFL shield.”

Why shell out the money to get involved at all, then? While Apple has, as usual, declined to comment on their reasons for sponsoring the Host Committee, Bruce theorizes that Apple is sponsoring the event for “Silicon Valley cachet.” Levi Stadium, where this year’s Super Bowl is being held, is minutes away from Apple’s campus in Cupertino.

According to Bruce, the Host Committee sponsors “will get a lot of attention in the Bay Area because they stepped up early to be a part of this… Apple was the very first company of all our sponsors to step up.”

“The reason they did that is because they realized that it was important to Silicon Valley. It was during a bit of a transition time from Steve [Jobs] to Tim [Cook], and they told us ‘This is the right thing to do. We’re building a mega campus that will be a stone’s throw from the stadium.’

They have no interest in the marketing rights, they have no interest in using our logo. But they’re promoting the partnership a lot internally to their employees.”

Artist Rendering of Apple’s New Cupertino Campus

While the Super Bowl Host Committee rules state that there can be no crossover sponsors – that is, sponsors within the same industry. However, with this year’s event being in the Silicon Valley, the tech industry is the exception — Microsoft, Google, HP, and Uber have joined the committee, as well. Numerous tech notables have found their way onto the advisory board, as well.

Apple’s Bruce Sewell is on the board, as well as SoftBank CEO Nikesh Arora, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich (not to mention some notable non-tech names such as Condoleezza Rice and Charles Schwab).

Super Bowl 50 will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on February 7^th. The game featuring either the Arizona Cardinals or the Carolina Panthers vs. the Denver Broncos or the New England Patriots will air at 3:30pm PST on CBS, as well as the CBS Sports app on the Apple TV.

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