I read an article called, “Madison Square Garden Switches to Pepsi After a Century with Rival Coca-Cola” by Marc Schneider. New York City’s Madison Square Garden has been selling Coca-Cola products for over 100 years during games, concerts, shows and more. However, on September, MSG began a multiyear sponsorship and marketing deal with PepsiCo. MSG is making PepsiCo their exclusive non-alcoholic beverage and snack partner across all of their venues including the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre.

Pepsi will also become an official sponsor of MSG’s sports franchises. These include the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and the Westchester Knicks and the Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes. This new partnership also makes Pepsi the main sponsor of iHeartRadio Z100 Jingle Ball which is a concert held at the Garden. Singer Bebe Rexha was revealed to be the first performer for its iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour. The first concert under the new MSG/Pepsi partnership will occur on September 8, featuring country singer Dierks Bentley.

James Dolan is the executive chairman/CEO of Madison Square Garden and states, “Both MSG and PepsiCo have built a collection of world-renowned brands and have a passion for bringing people together through unforgettable live experiences. We are confident that this partnership will benefit our customers, as well as both our businesses.”

The venues at MSG will feature Pepsi’s portfolio of food and beverages including Pepsi, Mtn Dew, Gatorade, Aquafina and more. Indra Nooyi, MSG company president stated, “Both MSG and PepsiCo have built a collection of world-renowned brands and have a passion for bringing people together through unforgettable live experiences. We are confident that this partnership will benefit our customers, as well as both our businesses.”

In 2010 MSG and Coke had celebrated their 100-year partnership by expanding the soda giant’s brand presence across MSG platforms. Coke was MSG partner since the second venue bearing the Madison Square Garden name.

I read this article because I go to Madison Square Garden often for concerts and shows. I was surprised to hear that they were switching to PepsiCo as their new partner. I personally prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi so I am upset over the new switch. Overall, I feel that it was unnecessary since Coca-Cola and Madison Square Garden have been partners for over one hundred years and many people including myself prefer Coke over Pepsi.

Madison Square Garden Switches to Pepsi After a Century with Rival Coca-Cola