Bud Light Brings Back Familiar Faces to Own NFL Kickoff Again

Nothing gets between a football fan and a fresh Bud Light, not even a hardwood floor covered in broken French doors.

Bud Light, the Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL, kicked off the new season on August 11 with a national campaign starring longtime brand partners Shane Gillis and Peyton Manning.

It's marked by two spots titled "The Move" and "Armchair" that show exactly how far fans will go for the brand's clean, crisp taste on gameday.

Alongside the new work, Bud Light is bringing back its limited-edition team cans across its 27 NFL team partnerships.

This will be complete with a scannable QR code that unlocks prizes ranging from NFL+ Premium to game tickets.

"The NFL season is Bud Light season," shared Todd Allen, SVP of Marketing for Bud Light.

"With two hilarious new commercials featuring Shane and Peyton and our iconic team cans giving fans a chance to upgrade their experience all season, we're making it fun to fan."

At its core, the push serves as an extension of the brand's more than two-decade run with the league.

Bar Fights and Broken Doors

In "The Move," a packed bar full of NFL fans, including Manning himself, jostles for the bartender's attention.

Gillis slides in and steals Manning's spot at the rail, prompting a familiar shuffle of leaning, reaching, and elbowing.

Soon enough, Manning recruits a fellow fan to help him stretch out fully horizontal across the bar to place an order for both of them.

"Armchair" moves the action to a home watch party, where Manning refuses to give up his recliner for a beer run.

He ends up dragging the entire chair with him, crashing through a pair of French doors along the way.

Manning called the work his favorite NFL kickoff tradition yet.

"This Bud Light campaign truly captures what it means to go great lengths for your team and showcases how fun it is to fan during the NFL season," he said.

Both spots are airing across linear, streaming, and digital platforms starting this week.

They'll be accompanied by the return of the retro-styled team cans and the Bud Light Football Faceoff National Contest, which gives fans a shot at Super Bowl LXI tickets.

A Season Built for Sponsors

Football is drawing bigger crowds than it has in decades, which raises the stakes for brands trying to stand out during the broadcast.

The 2025 NFL regular season averaged18.7 million viewers per game, the second-highest mark on record and up 10% from the year before, according to Front Office Sports.

The Thanksgiving matchup between the Chiefs and Cowboys alone drew more than 57 million viewers, the most-watched regular-season game in league history.

And because fans who buy into the team-can promotion early tend to scan throughout the season, Bud Light wants that audience engaged before kickoff even happens.

Three takeaways stand out for marketers:

• Recurring talent builds shorthand: Bringing back Manning lets the joke start faster since audiences already know the relationship.
• Physical comedy travels across formats: A sight gag like the armchair scene cuts through cluttered gameday ad breaks better than dialogue-heavy spots.
• Packaging can extend the campaign: Turning team cans into a QR-code prize mechanic keeps the promotion alive on store shelves long after the ads stop airing.

The activation builds on prior marketing efforts from the brand.

This includes its NFL Draft keg wall activation earlier this year, which turned live picks into free-beer moments across multiple cities.

Our Take: Can the Same NFL Stars Keep the Hype Going?

At this point, it's almost essential for either Gills or Manning to star in a Bud Light ad.

Anything less feels like an effort coming up short, with the two having been almost synonymous with the brand.

That's what makes this campaign feel like a double-edged sword. 

It's reliant on celebrity marketing to work, but it's this very tactic that gives fans something to look forward to every season. 

However, Bud Light also holds the responsibility of keeping its stories light, new, and relatable for the NFL community. 

While the faces never quite grow old, it's the repetitive stories that might lead game day watchers to lose interest over time. 

But for now, Bud Light ups the crazy and hits the mark once again, staking its claim as the top-of-mind beer brand when you think football. \

Sports and beverage brands planning huge campaigns often work with partners who understand how culture, timing, and retail behavior intersect.

These top sports marketing agencies support brands building initiatives designed for visibility and real-world participation.