Inside PepsiCo's UEFA Champions League final Kick Off Show ahead of this season's Wembley showpiece

With the forthcoming UEFA Champions League final set for England’s Wembley Stadium and with PepsiCo’s heritage in combining sport and music through the Super Bowl half-time show, Kirkham discussed the company’s learnings around their Champions League Kick Off Show.

Kirkham told the Footballco Business Podcast last year: "I think the first time that you saw concerts before or in some cases in the middle of a game, hardcore fans were probably a bit surprised. But now you're seeing this broadening of the reach and the acceptance and the integration of entertainment and music and that was always the idea.”

While the focus might be on the pitch (or the stage), it's online where the show and the elements around it bring in the game-changing numbers.

"It's like any of the broadcast models in sports, right?," he added. "It's not about the 60,000 or 80,000 in the stands; it's about the millions, in some cases billions, around the world. If you look at all of the content engagement, we had seven billion earned media impressions from this past year's programme.

"If you look at all the assets across everything we did that tied to the Kick Off Show and our overall programme for the Champions League final, there were 21 billion impressions or a reach of 21 billion. And if you don't intersect music with sport, I don't think you get those numbers.”

When it comes to venues that are known globally for football and music, there are few that can compete with Wembley Stadium, which is home to this year's UEFA Champions League final and will feature what should be the biggest Kick Off show yet. While Kirkham was tight-lipped on the details, he did let us in a bit on the planning and how much of an opportunity a Wembley final is for PepsiCo.

"I think the planning for Wembley started in a car on the way to the stadium in Istanbul. I think we've got a great opportunity in terms of the culture of fans in the UK, the culture and the history of Wembley and London when it comes to amazing matches amazing concerts. So I think there is something special about the opportunity to do something big at Wembley, and obviously, the importance to our business across our brands. So we're really excited.”

To hear more on PepsiCo’s football strategy, listen to the Footballco Business Podcast below or click here.