Lenny Kravitz to Perform at Champions League Final: A Game-Changer for European Football?

American singer and actor Lenny Kravitz, a four-time Grammy Award winner, is set to perform at the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium on 1 June 2024, where Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund. This exciting performance is expected to captivate around 100,000 fans in the stadium and millions more watching on television.

Kravitz’s performance is part of the Pepsi Kick Off Show, an activation of the partnership between UEFA and PepsiCo. This marks the second year of the Kick Off Show, which debuted at last year’s final between Manchester City and Inter Milan in Istanbul.

The previous Kick Off Show featuring Anitta, Burna Boy, and special guest Alesso garnered 16 million views on UEFA’s YouTube channel alone. In comparison, the most popular highlight video from the 2023 final on Manchester City’s YouTube channel amassed 2.9 million views.

Integrating musical performances into major events is not new for either the UEFA Champions League or PepsiCo. For ten seasons, PepsiCo has organized musical shows for the NFL’s Super Bowl, featuring stars like Beyoncé, Bruno Mars with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry with Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, The Weeknd, and more.

Noteworthy Pepsi Half Time Show performances include Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in 2020, and the grand finale show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem, which marked the end of Pepsi’s sponsorship.

The Shakira and J.Lo performance amassed 311 million views on YouTube, while the hip-hop legends’ performance reached 275 million views. This excludes the roughly 100 million live viewers and additional views from various social media channels.

Starting in 2023, Apple Music acquired the rights to the NFL Half Time Show, prompting PepsiCo to shift its focus to the UEFA Champions League, a platform with 400-700 million live viewers depending on the teams involved. This move aims to cement their cultural influence post-NFL partnership.

The main technical differences between the Half Time Show and the Kick Off Show is the duration of the performances. In the Super Bowl final it’s about 13 minutes, in the UEFA Champions League final it will take about 6 minutes. And the show period. Before kickoff in UEFA and at halftime in the NFL.

Before the first Pepsi Kick Off Show, star-studded “opening ceremony performances,” starting in 2016, at Champions League finals often went almost unnoticed for social networks audience, only seen through news snippets, promotional videos, and fan-recorded clips. These performances featured:

2016 (Milan): Alicia Keys
2017 (Cardiff): Black Eyed Peas
2018 (Kyiv): Dua Lipa
2019 (Madrid): Imagine Dragons
2020 (Lisbon): No live performance due to COVID-19 (virtual performance by Marshmello)
2021 (Porto): Marshmello (virtual performance featuring Selena Gomez and Khalid)
2022 (Paris): Camila Cabello

The Kick Off Show aims to significantly boost media and social media coverage for both Pepsi and the Champions League, positioning their brands as leaders in cultural influence. Research indicated that the Super Bowl halftime show is primarily viewed by women. Similarly, Lenny Kravitz’s fan base, although predominantly female (64% on Instagram, 54% on Facebook, 53% on Twitter), has a broader appeal, including a substantial male audience.

Recently, Kravitz received the Music Icon Award at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He will promote his new album, “Blue Electric Light,” set to release on May 24, just two days before his 60th birthday.

Through this reactivation of their sponsorship contract, UEFA and Pepsi have found an effective way to reach and increase their target audiences. Notably, in June 2023, following last year’s final, the contract was extended until 2027. This means fans can look forward to at least three more spectacular performances as part of the Pepsi Kick Off Show in the coming years.