One of music's biggest stars, Taylor Swift, has inked a deal with one of telecommunication's biggest brands, AT&T.
The partnership will allow AT&T and Swift to participate in a variety of events together, including the singer headlining the AT&T DirecTV Super Saturday Night in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 4, 2017. Swift will perform in a venue specifically made for her performance the day before Super Bowl LI will be held in the city's NRG Stadium. Tickets for the concert will be made available through AT&T promotions and contests.
Taylor will only be performing the day before: The featured halftime act is Lady Gaga.
In addition, video content and clips from the concert will be made available for U-verse and DirecTV customers at a later date. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We're thrilled to reach a deal to bring Taylor and her unique talents to her fans and our customers in new and exclusive ways," John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Entertainment Group, said in a release. "And we've thrilled attendees during the Big Game weekend for the last 11 years with A-list parties and the hottest performing music artists around, so 2017 will be our very best. We're excited to get event tickets into the hands of Taylor's fans and exclusive content from the event to our customers and celebrate the combination of one of the world's biggest artists with one of the world's biggest sporting events."
Swift's concert could provide valuable spotlight time for AT&T during next year's Super Bowl, one of the year's biggest advertising events. Many brands including Visa have been opting to create experiences in Super Bowl host cities to get the buzz from the big game without having to buy a traditional Super Bowl ad. Last year, a Super Bowl 30-second spot went for up to $5 million.
The concert and subsequent Swift events could also provide AT&T with original videos that might provide for lucrative advertising opportunities. Sources have said that the telecommunications company is in the market for a media company in order to own content to advertise against. It's been bolstering up original video through smaller companies like entertainment company Fullscreen, which is owned by The Chernin Group-AT&T joint venture company The Otter Group. It also has a slate of original shows through DirecTV, including the Dan Patrick and Rich Eisen shows, as well as its flagship series "Kingdom."