Brand in hand
Las Vegas has boomed as a sports city in 2023. The National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights won their first Stanley Cup this year after arriving via expansion in 2017. Formula 1 hosted its first Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, bringing a host of brands along for the ride.
The Super Bowl arrived just after the Raiders built Allegiant Stadium and moved from Oakland, Calif., in 2020. As Fieri and his event partners at Medium Rare discovered, brands are just as eager to get in on the first Las Vegas Super Bowl as they were to join its inaugural F1 race, which Fieri attended and called “like nothing I’d ever seen or experienced.”
For Fieri’s Tailgate, TickPick handles the free ticketing, and Cash App gave its cardholders guaranteed access to the event’s free tickets for one day, along with a 15% discount on food and beverage purchases. Energy drink Celsius opens the What’s Your Vibe? lounge, Kingsford has a smokehouse featuring a grand-scale BBQ pit and Papa John’s is setting up a Calzone Zone with tailgate games.
Supplementing all of the Food Network chefs and restaurant owners, King’s Hawaiian is providing slider rolls, Tyson Foods is bringing chicken and Best Foods is showing visitors what Hellmann’s mayonnaise (and Buffalo chicken dip) looks like west of the Rockies. Mon Chateau will demonstrate its Fieri-branded Flavortown Cookware, while Caesars Rewards is setting up Guy’s VIP Clubhouse by the stage,
Who’s stocking the bar? Anheuser-Busch has beer covered and is hosting “Bud Light Cheers” from the music stage. Klutch Vodka, Two Roads Brewing’s Flavortown Spiked fruit punches and teas and Santo Tequila—a collaboration between Fieri and rocker Sammy Hagar—fill out the rest.
While Kaplan sees Fieri as an ally in creating “moments of unapologetic enjoyment,” it views his Tailgate as a vital portion of Pepsi’s brand building that creates positive memories of its products.
