Pepsi brings local football fans a taste of the in-stadium action at home

Pepsi will give Rams and Chargers fans the ultimate at-home experience including an exclusive pregame concert with rapper Jay Rock

In celebration of the highly anticipated opening of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers new home at SoFi Stadium, Pepsi, the official soft drink of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, has announced that they will bring local football fans a taste of the in-stadium action whilst at home.

Kicking off during the Los Angeles Rams season opener on 13 September and extending through the Los Angeles Chargers season opener on 20 September, Pepsi will provide football fans throughout Southern California with a series of entertainment, food, merchandise, and fan-based activations that will empower them to showcase their love of the game and share it with their friends and family across social channels.

“As one of the most anticipated venues in the country, SoFi Stadium represents an unparalleled entertainment destination, right in our own backyard,” said Johannes Evenblij, president of PepsiCo Beverages North America West Division. “We are proud to continue to deepen our LA roots and celebrate the stadium and its teams in LA with the most epic gameday experiences that only Pepsi can produce.”

As part of the kickoff to the Rams season opener on 13 September, Pepsi will set the gameday stage by producing a virtual pregame show featuring award-winning rapper, Jay Rock. The pregame show will live on Pepsi’s YouTube channel for 24 hours.

To help Rams fans at home get their game face on, Pepsi will offer access to an augmented reality filter that will virtually paint team colours onto an image of their face. The image can then be shared across social channels.

“As we kick off a historic year for the Rams and SoFi Stadium, we are excited to work with Pepsi to connect with our fans wherever they are celebrating the start of the season,” said Kevin Demoff, Rams Chief Operating Officer.

“Pepsi will help us open SoFi Stadium with its first “pregame show,” featuring LA-native Jay Rock taking fans on a journey through this unparalleled stadium that Stan Kroenke has built-in Inglewood. We look forward to working with Pepsi to showcase the Rams House virtually until we can all be together there in person.”

To celebrate the Chargers season opener on 20 September, Pepsi will host a virtual tailgate featuring game day eats, merchandise and fan filters. As part of the activation, Pepsi will provide 1,000 fans access to an exclusive US$20/£15.36 Pizza Hut digital gift card, where they can redeem a free pizza and two-litre Pepsi to enjoy during the game.

Pepsi is also working on a creative collaboration with the Chargers famed defensive line, the Jackboyz and Los Angeles-based artist Francisco Reyes Jr. aka Never Made to design a limited edition, custom t-shirt. Fans will be able to enter a giveaway on Instagram and Twitter for a chance to win one of 100 custom shirts.

Like the Rams, Pepsi will also empower Chargers fans to showcase their fandom by providing access to an augmented reality filter that they can use to virtually paint their face with team colours and post the final image to their favourite social channels.

“One constant in our partnership with PepsiCo over the past two decades is the shared view that the fan always comes first, and this activation is yet another tremendous example of that,” said A.G. Spanos, Los Angeles Chargers president of Business Operations.

“Whilst this pandemic has disrupted so many things in our day-to-day lives, we are thrilled to offer Chargers fans a sense of normalcy with PepsiCo’s virtual SoFi stadium experience. Thanks to PepsiCo, fans can still enjoy that gameday experience from home and experience the special sense of community that is unique to NFL Sundays in the Fall.”

These activations will further align PepsiCo with the NFL and its two home teams in Los Angeles. As part of its partnership with SoFi Stadium, PepsiCo holds sponsorship, soft drink and certain snacking rights to the Rams, a recent partner of the brand, and the Chargers, a longstanding PepsiCo partner for the past 15 years.

As a founding partner of Hollywood Park, PepsiCo also holds category-exclusive marketing, sponsorship and promotional rights across the development, as well as certain soft drink and snacking rights for SoFi Stadium, the performance venue and American Airlines Plaza.

“PepsiCo is known for delivering the ultimate fan experience,” said Jason Gannon, managing director, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. “As we get our inaugural NFL season underway, we will introduce fans to SoFi Stadium and the extraordinary experiences they can engage with from the comforts of their home. We’re excited to kick things off with Pepsi’s first pregame show at SoFi Stadium with Grammy Award-winner Jay Rock and look forward to the day when we can welcome fans in-person.”

The Pepsi brand’s celebrations timed to the Rams and Chargers openers are part of the Pepsi 2020 football campaign “Made for Football Watching,” which spotlights the NFL’s passionate football watchers and focuses on bringing the stadium experience home to fans this season.

The campaign comes to life in a number of ways including brand new TV advertisements, an online hub to host content, a suite of social filters designed to help immortalise the football watcher, and more.

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