Apple Music replaces Pepsi to become new sponsor of Super Bowl half-time show

Apple Music will be the new sponsor of the Super Bowl half-time show, the NFL has announced.

The multi-year sponsorship will begin with this season’s Super Bowl on February 12 in Glendale, Arizona.

Apple Music replaces Pepsi, which sponsored the show for the past 10 years.

Terms were not announced but analysts had expected the league to get at least 50 million US dollars (£44.6 million) per year for the rights.

“We are proud to welcome Apple Music to the NFL family as our new partner for the iconic Super Bowl Half-time Show,” Nana-Yaw Asamoah, the NFL’s senior vice president of partner strategy, said in a statement.

“We couldn’t think of a more appropriate partner for the world’s most-watched musical performance than Apple Music, a service that entertains, inspires, and motivates millions of people around the world through the intersection of music and technology.”

Apple is also negotiating with the NFL for the rights to the “NFL Sunday Ticket” package of Sunday games that do not air in a viewer’s home market.

Amazon, Google and the Walt Disney Company are also competing for the package, which has been on DirecTV since 1994.

More than 120 million viewers watched last February’s half-time show, which featured Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar.