The Roc and the NFL are teaming up.

JAY-Z’s Roc Nation is set to announce a “sweeping business partnership” with the NFL, according to Front Office Sports. A press conference is reportedly scheduled for Wednesday in New York.

The alliance would be a major move for both sides. Partnering with Roc Nation would help give the NFL more credibility with a younger, urban audience. Meanwhile, Roc Nation would benefit from its affiliation with the nation’s most powerful sports league as it looks to further expand into sports.

Roc Nation Sports is home to athletes including Saquon Barkley, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Other sports clients include NFL stars Todd Gurley and Dez Bryant, NBA superstar Kyrie Irving, MLB pitcher CC Sabathia, and boxing champs Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward.

 

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The #NFL has partnered with #JAYZ and #RocNation, according to The New York Times. The partnership deal will reportedly find Jay-Z and the Roc in the role of the NFL’s brand-new “live music entertainment strategist.” #HHUCIT … Hov will consult the NFL on entertainment around the league — including producing its famed Super Bowl halftime show, which has seen a number of artists turn down the opportunity in recent years. Roc Nation will also be part of the NFL’s social justice campaign by contributing to the league’s Inspire Change initiative. … “The N.F.L. has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” Jay-Z told NYT. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.” … The Brooklyn mogul has been critical of the NFL in the past, notably rapping on Everything Is Love single “Apeshit,” “I said no to the Super Bowl/ You need me, I don’t need you.” … Jay has also been a staunch supporter of #ColinKaepernick in his bout against the NFL. Hov has even gone as far as to calling Kap an “iconic figure” in the mold of a #MuhammadAli in the black community. Jay-Z wore a black Kaepernick jersey during his 2017 performance on Saturday Night Live. … “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,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told NYT. “I think that’s a core element of our relationship between the two organizations, and with Jay and I personally.” … Roc Nation Sports represents several clients around the league, including Juju Smith-Schuster, Jaire Alexander, Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette and more. … The NFL is officially set to announce details of the partnership on Wednesday (Aug. 14). via: #Billboard

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#JayZ, #RogerGoodell Discuss #NFL and #RocNation Deal, #ColinKaepernick and More. #HHUCIT … Jay-Z responded to the criticism, per Jason Reid of The Undefeated: … “We forget that Colin’s whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice. In that case, this is a success. This is the next phase. There [are] two parts of protesting. You go outside and you protest, and then the company or the individual says, ‘I hear you. What do we do next?’ “For me it’s like action, [an] actionable item, what are we gonna do with it? Everyone heard, we hear what you’re saying, and everybody knows I agree with what you’re saying [in Kaepernick’s underlying message]. So what are we gonna do? You know what I’m saying? [Help] millions and millions of people, or we get stuck on Colin not having a job.” … Goodell also commented on the partnership: “I don’t think either one of us expected that this relationship wouldn’t have its critics. But you don’t let the critics or the negativity overwhelm the chance to do something really positive. We talked about this [Kaepernick’s situation]. “We talked about a variety of issues. When we first met, we talked about entertainment and how we do that. But the No. 1 thing we went to was impact, that we can have an impact together, and that we can do some really positive things in our communities.” via: Bleacher Report

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The NFL has faced controversy in recent years over how it handles players protesting racial and social justice, most notably with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem.

In a show of support, JAY-Z reportedly declined a performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

“I said no to the Super Bowl: You need me, I don’t need you / Every night we in the endzone, tell the NFL we in stadiums to,” he rapped on The Carters’ hit “APESHIT.”

The New York Times has confirmed the partnership between Roc Nation and the NFL. As part of the deal, Roc Nation will be the NFL’s “live music entertainment strategist,” consulting on entertainment, including the Super Bowl halftime show, and contributing to the league’s social-justice program, Inspire Change, which donates money to groups fighting for criminal justice reform.

“The NFL has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” said JAY-Z, who has been a critic of the league in the past. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”

As co-producer of the Super Bowl halftime show, JAY-Z will have a role in selecting and producing the country’s most-watched music performance. Black entertainers including JAY-Z and Rihanna have turned down the gig in the past in support of Kaepernick.

“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,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “I think that’s a core element of our relationship between the two organizations, and with JAY and I personally.”