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Add some NFL jerseys to the football memorabilia lining the walls at your local Applebee’s.
Today, the National Football League announced Applebee’s Grill + Bar as its “official grill + bar” sponsor in a multiyear deal starting just in time for the upcoming NFL Draft.
The more than 1,500-location casual dining chain has ensconced itself in local sports marketing since its inception, but it has made more of a play for the big leagues in recent years—joining NBC’s Football Night in America pregame show for Sunday Night Football as a sponsor in 2019 and partnering with NFL players on digital video projects with Whistle Sports.
With the announcement, Applebee’s further connects itself with the NFL, bringing multiple opportunities for both sides of the partnership.
Naturally, Applebee’s celebrated this news by offering 20 free boneless wings to anyone who makes an online purchase of $40 or more during the 2024 NFL draft from April 25 through 27.
It’s excellent timing for the company, considering that the first round of last year’s draft on ESPN, ABC and the NFL network brought in a combined 11.29 million viewers—trailing only the 12.5 million who watched the 2021 installment and the aberrant 15.26 million who watched in 2020 when all other sports options were shut down.
Teaming up on a new partnership
Tracie Rodburg, senior vice president of sponsorship management at the NFL, noted that there are a few other crucial commonalities between Applebee’s and the league. Most notably, Applebee’s vendors include NFL sponsors Anheuser-Busch and PepsiCo, creating opportunities for the league to interact with fans and friends of all kinds.
“Partnering with the National Football League to be the official Grill and Bar of the NFL is a perfect fit for Applebee’s because many of our guests and team members are NFL fans,” said Joel Yashinsky, chief marketing officer at Applebee’s. “A partnership with the league felt like a great next step to take our authentic engagement to the next level to better serve our guests in new and fun ways and celebrate football year round.”
Since the pandemic, the NFL’s sponsor count has looked relatively stable, moving from 39 in 2019 to 38 today. But as the league’s needs have evolved, so has the makeup of its sponsors. Much as the NFL’s once-exclusive alcohol category partner Anheuser-Busch has made room for Diageo and E&J Gallo, Applebee’s is part of a suite of food service partners that already includes Subway, Little Caesars and Uber Eats.
NFL sponsors no longer exist to fill a category: They enter the fold based on their relationship with football, what they can bring to the league in return and how well they can play along with others. Given Applebee’s sport-brand pedigree and pre-existing circle of NFL-sponsor friends, it’s made a strong argument for eatin’ good in the league’s neighborhood.
“I need the right partners that are going to work across the league in the NFL ecosystem, support our clubs, support our players and drive fan engagement,” Rodburg said. “Those are the partners that we look at and then ask, ‘How can they fit in with the group that we have, and how can they authentically tell their story?’”
The NFL’s favorite neighbor
According to Rodburg, Applebee’s and the NFL have been discussing this sponsorship opportunity for the last two years. Applebee’s partnerships with NBC and its work with PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch got the league’s attention, as did the chain’s regular broadcasts of its games through DirectTV’s commercial version of the NFL’s Sunday Ticket.
For all of the chain’s high-school football decor and connections to the game, however, the NFL impressed the importance of official sponsorship upon Applebee’s early—noting the premium that fans are willing to pay for NFL-official Wilson footballs or Nike jerseys.
“I remember years ago when Applebee’s was just with Football Night in America. They were trying to use NFL content in the opening of the show with their brand, and we kept saying, ‘Nope, can’t do it. They’re not a partner,’” Rodburg said. “You could see years ago where they understood how authenticity helps.”
The league also wanted Applebee’s to realize its sponsorship made it part of a team, and that requires some occasional teamwork.
The NFL already conducts sponsor summits so its partner brands can interact with each other while ensuring no one encroaches on another’s territory. However, with Applebee’s, the league sees an opportunity for Pepsi—for example—to expand its Rookie of the Week promotions to restaurant sites. Anheuser-Busch would have similar opportunities with its promotions and properties.
“You could do it all in an Applebee’s that makes it even bigger and better because that’s where our fans are,” Rodburg said. “So we make sure that each brand is doing what is authentic to them. But at the same time, we encourage working together because that just makes every program even better.”
Today’s specials
More importantly for the partnership, the NFL’s strategy acknowledges each brand as a leader within its niche and works with them based on the league’s needs.
For example, sponsors TCL, Apple Music and Microsoft all fit within a broader consumer electronics category, but the NFL leans on TCL for televisions, Microsoft for its Surface devices (and Windows software) and Apple Music to connect fans to its Super Bowl halftime acts.
Rodburg credits the team led by NFL vp of sponsorship strategy and business development Ingrid Petri—who joined the league in October after nearly two years with AEG and eight with the NBA—with producing a mix of sponsors that benefit both the league and each other. Much as Anheuser-Busch the NFL’s wine expertise to E&J Gallo and spirits to Diageo, Applebee’s joins the club knowing that Little Caesars has staked out pizza, Subway has sandwiches and Uber Eats—which often includes Applebee’s among its offerings—handles delivery.
“Each one has its swim lane, and we make sure that their creative is different, their activation is different and how they come to life at our events is different,” Rodburg said. “Every fan and customer wants that customization—they’re going to these brands for a reason, they’re coming to us for a reason—so we work hard with all of our partners to make sure that that differentiation comes through.”
