New Kid In Town: NHL Inks Three-Year Deal With Pepsi

NHL Inks Three-Year Deal With PepsiCo

PepsiCo has inked a multi-year deal with the NHL and NHLPA, under which it receives exclusive North American rights in the beverage, sports beverage, bottled water and snack categories for its Pepsi, Gatorade, Aquafina and Lay’s brands (PepsiCo). In this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Terry Lefton reports the deal is for three years and cites sources as saying that it is worth $3.5-4M annually. Lefton notes the NHL has had a deal with Coca-Cola for the past 17 years, but Coca-Cola, which has local sponsorship deals with 18 NHL teams, “put less activation behind the league recently.” NHL Enterprises President Ed Horne said, “As we enter a new era for the NHL, we think our partners should reflect that. In PepsiCo, we have a partner who will help grow the game in Canada and the U.S., and we now have relationships in categories that we didn’t have before.” The deal is the NHL’s first new corporate sponsorship since it returned from the ’04-05 lockout (SBJ, 6/19 issue).