Novartis has teamed up with the NFL in a multi-year partnership, marking the first such collaboration between the football league and a pharmaceutical company.
The partnership will center around the NFL’s slate of health initiatives, according to a Thursday announcement, with an initial focus on oncology.
To start, Novartis will support the league’s “Crucial Catch” awareness campaign, a year-round initiative held in partnership with the American Cancer Society that kicked off its 16th season last fall and is aimed at boosting early cancer detection and risk reduction.
The team-up will also see Novartis serve as the presenting partner for annual events like the NFL’s health and safety summit—the first of which was held in March 2024—as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which is scheduled this year for July 31, and the Hall of Fame class presentation, which takes place at the NFL Honors award ceremony a few days before the Super Bowl.
Elsewhere, Novartis will support the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” program, in which players sport customized cleats honoring a cause important to them. The company will also have a presence at the NFL Draft, the Super Bowl and “other special events throughout the season,” per the announcement.
“At the heart of this first-of-its-kind partnership is the ambition to educate and mobilize communities to detect cancer and other diseases early, broadening health solutions beyond medicine,” Victor Bultó, Novartis’ U.S. president, said in a statement.
“With its nationwide fan base and demonstrated commitment to health advocacy, the NFL is a powerful partner for igniting critical health conversations at an unmatched scale,” Bultó continued. “Together, Novartis and the NFL are working toward leveling the playing field against serious health conditions, empowering every fan to proactively manage their health.”
The NFL has allowed pharma sponsorships for the league and its teams since 2003; that year, Bayer and GSK inked a joint three-year deal that made them the first drugmakers to come aboard as official sponsors for the league. The Novartis deal represents an “unprecedented” new type of pharma collab for the NFL, according to the release, with the Swiss company serving as a partner, rather than merely a sponsor.
Novartis recently bulked up its NFL bona fides by launching its first-ever Super Bowl ad at February’s big game. The star-studded “Your Attention, Please” campaign roped in Wanda Sykes and Hailee Steinfeld to help raise awareness about the importance of breast health and promote early breast cancer detection.
And, even more recently, Novartis stepped up as the exclusive pharma sponsor of another athletic institution: the National Basketball Retired Players Association. The partners unveiled the sponsorship at the annual NBA All-Star Weekend in mid-February, where, according to Novartis, “Our focus was on providing education and raising awareness about elevated Lp(a), a genetic condition that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.”