With Saturday Night Live’s 49th season now in the books, plans for the sponsorship side of the show’s landmark 50th year are coming into focus.
On Tuesday NBCUniversal announced that it had landed several key sponsors for the show, with Allstate, T-Mobile, L’Oreal Group, and Volkswagen of America all signing on.
According to NBCU, the brands will be tied to “curated custom content and experiences” celebrating the deep roster of comedy stars that Saturday Night Live has generated over the past five decades.
T-Mobile, for one, is already closely tied to the show. The company currently sponsors behind-the-scenes content like SNL’s YouTube series Beyond Studio 8H, and the T-Mobile x SNL Branded Partnership was named an honoree at this year’s Webby Awards.
NBC will be pulling out all the stops to hype the show, with a season-long celebration of its golden anniversary centered around the three-hour live SNL50 Primetime Special.
“For five decades, SNL has been one of the most desired properties for marketers,” said Mark Marshall, Chairman of NBCU Global Advertising and Partnerships, “and we are thrilled to have these presenting sponsors join us for the 50th anniversary season as we honor this iconic show.”
The sponsorship deals come a week after NBCUniversal’s upfront presentations in New York, which saw SNL stars Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Bowen Yang, and Marcello Hernandez make appearances for advertisers.
