It was announced today that Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports company, Roc Nation, and the NFL would be teaming up to help fortify the league’s Inspire Change social justice campaign. With players kneeling during the national anthem, Colin Kapernick’s alleged blackballing, and current Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills calling out the team’s owner for a pro-Donald Trump event, being in ties with one of the largest celebrities in the African-American community is a huge deal for the NFL.
The deal also gives Roc Nation the title of “live music entertainment strategist” for the NFL which will allow them to have a say in which artists perform at NFL-sanctioned events including the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Last year, the show received some pushback after selecting pop band Maroon 5 to headline the show instead of an Atlanta-based act.
This isn’t Roc Nation’s lone connection to the sport. Their sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, reps such high-caliber NFL players as Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette, Todd Gurley, Melvin Ingram, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Ndamukong Suh as well as former players Dez Bryant and Victor Cruz.
For his part, Jay-Z famously rapped, “I said no to the Super Bowl, you need me, I don’t need you” on the song APESH*T. The rapper has been vocal in his support of Kapernick, calling him an “iconic figure” and wearing a custom Kapernick jersey in 2017 during his performance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Of this new joint-venture, Jay-Z had the following to say, “The N.F.L. has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive. They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of the two sides working together, “We don’t want people to come in and necessarily agree with us; we want people to come in and tell us what we can do better. I think that’s a core element of our relationship between the two organizations, and with Jay and I personally.”
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