Jay Z and Roc Nation just made a major money move and the NFL gets to improve its image in the process.
The NFL is reportedly forming a partnership with Jay-Z that will put him in charge of managing some entertainment options for the league, which will also tie into the sport’s social justice efforts, the Washington Post reports.
Thanks to this partnership, Roc nation will reportedly co-produce the #SuperBowl halftime show, meaning they will choose entertainers who will perform in NFL content throughout the season. The deal does not contain a provision for Hov to be the halftime performer, both Jay Z and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
“He was very quick to say that he does not want this to be about him performing that it was broader than that,” Goodell said. “It quickly went beyond that. Do I hope he’ll perform in the Super Bowl sometime in the next several years? Yes. But I think we’ll all know if that time comes. He’ll know in particular.”
Jay is confident that the partnership will allow Roc Nation to have the freedom to produce the kind of entertainment that it wants.
“I think we have autonomy,” Jay Z said. “I anticipate that there will be a lot of — with any big organization, in this building right here we have internal problems. Anything that’s new is going to go through its growing pains. We put what we want to do on the table. The NFL agreed to it. So we’re gonna proceed with that as if we have a partnership.”
As far as the community activism portion of the partnership, that will be tied into the NFL’s existing “Inspire Change” program with its players. In other words, we’re hoping Jay Z can effect some real change with the NFL’s social justice issues.
