Gatorade and Breitling Blitz NFL Brand Goals

Notte’s Notes:

• Diversify your roster: The fresh perspective that Breitling brings to NFL marketing and the learned view that Gatorade takes after more than 40 years can be equally valuable if they inform each other. Each has different experience with the NFL’s changing fanbase, so tapping into it can be informative to both the league and its partners alike.
• Develop a deep bench. Are NFL players the only spokespeople for the league? Maybe a fan connects more with flag football’s Diana Flores after seeing her YouTube clips with the Mexican team. Maybe a casual fan spent more time rewatching Caught Stealing this summer than setting up their fantasy team and might not mind seeing Austin Butler at an NFL event. As the NFL draws a broader audience, brands are going to have to identify more of their interests than those on the field.

The NFL has two very different sponsors telling the same story: Gatorade, the league's longest-tenured partner at over 40 years, and Breitling, one of its newest additions. One has spent decades on NFL sidelines hydrating athletes. The other spent its first season introducing the league to movie stars and models while courting aspirational fans worldwide.

An international NFL that invites everyone to the table needs them both to keep growing.

Two Routes to the Same Goal

As the NFL expands internationally and embraces flag football as a newly minted Olympic sport, Gatorade serves as an essential connection point to athletes in an evolving game. Meanwhile, luxury and fashion brands like Breitling address a different need entirely. As casual and international fans discover the NFL, and as die-hards connect more deeply with the league through social media, these partners operate in boutique, global spaces that traditional NFL advertisers rarely reach.

Breitling joined the NFL this year alongside five other new league sponsors, including the league's first fashion partner, Abercrombie & Fitch. The luxury watchmaker launched with a bang: a kickoff party in New York's Meatpacking District in August, where it unveiled special edition versions of its Chronomat Automatic GMT and Endurance Pro watches for all 32 teams. The brand then used existing stores as boutiques for events and NFL watch displays in São Paulo, Dublin, London, Berlin, and Madrid to coincide with the NFL's International Games.

Breitling kickoff event in the Meatpacking District in NYC

“At Breitling, we’ve always seen ourselves as more than a watchmaker – we’re part of a broader cultural conversation around performance, style, and purpose,” said Jancu Koenig, Chief Marketing Officer at Breitling. “ The NFL is deeply embedded in U.S. culture and has been taking a similar approach in recent years, extending the league’s presence beyond the field into fashion and lifestyle…so this partnership really sits at that intersection.”

Gatorade's story with the NFL began in the late 1960s, when its sports drinks first appeared on sidelines, though the modern sponsorship officially began in 1983. A year later, the New York Giants doused head coach Bill Parcells with a tub of Gatorade, cementing the brand's NFL legacy in a single iconic moment.

Josh Allen's "Gatorade is In You" sweat portrait

Today, with NFL athletes including Peyton Manning, Lamar Jackson, Justin Jefferson, and Josh Allen leading its campaigns, Gatorade holds the longest tenure of any NFL sponsor by 12 years. Even Visa, which began its run in 1995, is ending its partnership next year as American Express takes over the league's credit card sponsorship.

A Growing, Complex Partnership Ecosystem

As the NFL's needs evolve and its roster of brand partners expands—to 46 sponsors in the 2025 season alone—the league's relationships grow more complex. From its oldest sponsors to its newest, and athlete-driven brands to aspirational lifestyle partners, the NFL works with an increasingly diverse field to address both its on-field identity and off-field cultural relevance. The goal: maintain deep connections with core fans while making new friends along the way.

“As a brand that was born on football sidelines, our long-standing partnership with the NFL is a point of pride for our entire team,” said Jeff Kearney, Global Head of Sports Marketing at Gatorade. “For more than 40 years, our relationship has been grounded in science and performance, as we work very closely with the league, collaborating to ensure we’re providing the best, proven solutions. It’s a true partnership.”

Most Valuable Players

Those NFL players with Gatorade-colored sweat running down their faces aren't just a marketing staple—they're the brand's test subjects and core audience.

Justin Jefferson in a Gatorade campaign

“Our athletes are the heartbeat of our brand – everything we do is in service of providing them the resources, products and services they need to perform at their best,” Kearney said. “We’re able to do that with a consistent feedback and conversation loop with them, so we can deliver on their evolving needs.”

Four decades of access has given Gatorade unparalleled insight into how players prepare and what they need to keep performing. The brand's Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) conducts sweat tests on NFL players to determine what their bodies burn through during practices and games under varying conditions, using that data to expand the Gatorade portfolio.

“A lot of the work we do with the NFL happens away from the cameras,” Kearney noted. “We spend time with athletic trainers and performance staff throughout the year, understanding the environments players are competing in and the demands they face over a long season.”

NFL players and their daily routines make a compelling sales pitch for a product like Gatorade. But luxury items like watches? That requires a different playbook. While Breitling will appear at the Super Bowl and produce custom watches for winners of this year's NFL Honors, the brand markets its team-collection watches directly to fans as “a perfect reflection of where the NFL is going as a cultural brand.”

At Breitling's August kickoff event, the guest list told the story. Yes, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attended, along with New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and NFL alums Eli Manning, Boomer Esiason, and C.J. Mosley (plus the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders). But they mingled with Oscar-nominated actor Austin Butler, surfer Mason Barnes, DJ Harley Viera-Newton, pilot Stephanie Goetz, KLUTCH Sports content creator Darrell Ann, and models Chanel Iman and Olivia Ponton.

Culture movers were front and center at Breitling's launch event. From L to R: Thierry Prissert, Alfred Gantner, Austin Butler and Georges Kern. 

While NFL fans certainly exist at Breitling, this partnership's influence extends far beyond the league's home field—and its biggest stars may not play football at all.

“[The launch] wasn’t just about creating a moment—it was about signaling intent: This collaboration is where performance meets style, where heritage meets modern culture,” Koenig said. “For us at Breitling, the NFL embodies precision, teamwork, and passion – values that align perfectly with our brand. We’re not just celebrating the sport; we’re celebrating the lifestyle and the people who bring that energy to everything they do.”

Breitling's partnership leans into lifestyle

Ideal Travel Partners

Breitling may be new to the NFL, but it brings extensive experience from partnerships in triathlon, cycling, and rugby. Each sport, Koenig noted, comes with its own culture and community of fans that shape the partnership terms. Breitling saw similar potential in a growing, globalizing NFL.

The league played six games overseas this year: three in the United Kingdom, and one each in Brazil, Germany, and Spain. Breitling seized the opportunity to create what it calls "a global journey" among those international stops, establishing boutiques in each market and connecting with local fans.

“The NFL’s international strategy is about more than expanding a fan base, it’s about creating a cultural connection to the sport, and that’s where Breitling comes in,” Koenig said. “Our brand has always had a global perspective, with a presence and recognition in key markets around the world…by aligning with the NFL, we’re able to help amplify those connections, bringing the game closer to new audiences.”

Despite its lengthy NFL tenure, Gatorade has also attached itself to the league's global ambitions. Just as the early days of Gatorade's NFL partnership influenced how it approached sideline presence and sponsorship with leagues like the NBA and WNBA—expanding to more than 350 products—its early support of flag football initiatives has spread into an international presence.

The brand sponsors the Mexican flag football quarterback, NFL Global Ambassador, and Super Bowl ad star Diana Flores, and has supported leagues and tournaments domestically and in the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand ahead of flag football's debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. As the game continues to evolve, Kearney wants Gatorade to celebrate its traditions while reflecting the new generation of fans and players around the globe.

The brand believes the best way to "reflect the full picture of the sport" is to show up in ways that make sense for both the NFL and Gatorade. As the league increasingly finds itself in new corners of the globe and culture, sponsors old and new secure their place on the team by constantly reading the field.

“Football looks different today than it did when we first showed up on the sideline 60 years ago,” Kearney said. “The game is growing globally, flag football is taking off and younger athletes are engaging with the sport in new ways. Our job is to make sure we’re supporting athletes wherever the game goes.”