PepsiCo Becomes Major Xanadu Sponsor With Near $100M Deal

PepsiCo's Xanadu Deal Includes Naming Rights To Ferris Wheel

PepsiCo has signed a 10-year deal worth nearly $100M with Meadowlands Xanadu, becoming the “first major sponsor” of the development, according to sources cited by Suzanne Vranica of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The deal, which is the “biggest outdoor advertising deal yet for Pepsi,” includes naming rights to the 287-foot Ferris wheel, which will be called the Pepsi Globe, pouring rights for most of the complex, a 10,000-square-foot indoor trivia and memorabilia area and marketing support. The Pepsi logo will adorn the center of the LED screen on the Ferris wheel, which “will be visible from miles away.” The company also will distribute 450 million “specially designed Pepsi cans that carry images of the Pepsi Globe.” Xanadu is expected to open in November, and developers “are promising potential sponsors that they will get their ads in front of 50 million visitors annually.” The complex wants to sign “as many as five ‘foundational’ sponsors including a telecommunications company, a consumer packaged-goods firm and a consumer-electronics company” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/21).