The Activation
PepsiCo Beverages North America is marking the Buffalo Bills' first regular-season home game at the new Highmark Stadium with a limited-edition commemorative can release and a free pregame tailgate event on September 17. The cans — distributed in limited quantities at the tailgate and to exiting fans post-game — carry Josh Allen's printed signature, exclusive co-branded Pepsi and Bills artwork, and the fanbase's "BILLIEVE" rallying cry.
The on-site activation, billed as a "Tailgating Deserves Pepsi" experience, includes ice-cold product, gameday food from regional grocery chain Wegmans, a Bills legend meet-and-greet, and premium giveaways. The event is free to attend. Pepsi is the Official Soft Drink of the Buffalo Bills and a Founding Partner of Highmark Stadium — a relationship now in its 28th year.
Why It Matters for the Channel
For c-store operators, the Bills commemorative can is the kind of limited-edition carbonated soft drink (CSD) drop that moves cooler traffic and drives impulse purchase. Regional sports co-brands have a documented lift effect on dispensed beverage and packaged drink velocity during game weeks, and the Buffalo market — anchored by a deeply engaged fanbase — gives Pepsi's retail and foodservice partners a concrete sell-through window tied to the NFL calendar.
Pepsi's broader "Tailgating Deserves Pepsi" platform runs across NFL markets this season, meaning operators in other team territories can expect parallel promotional support. The campaign reinforces CSD's enduring role in foodservice and grab-and-go occasions at the forecourt and inside the store, even as energy drinks and functional beverages continue to take shelf space.
"Bills Mafia has built one of the most iconic gameday cultures in sports, and Pepsi is proud to have been part of it for decades," said Gustavo Reyna, Vice President of Marketing at Pepsi. "As fans gather for the first regular-season home opener at the new Highmark Stadium this week, we're excited to celebrate alongside them and help kick off a new era of Buffalo football with the great taste of Pepsi."
Stadium F&B Context
Highmark Stadium's design includes frictionless food and beverage marketplaces and 360-degree concourses — a format that increasingly mirrors the grab-and-go convenience model c-store operators have built their dispensed beverage and packaged drink programs around. As stadium F&B modernizes, brand partnerships like Pepsi's Founding Partner status serve a dual purpose: on-site pour rights and amplified retail visibility in the surrounding market.
PepsiCo reported nearly $94 billion in net revenue in 2025 across its beverage and convenient foods portfolio, which includes Pepsi-Cola, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, and Lay's — brands that collectively drive significant volume through the convenience channel.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
