E! Wrote:
Stones Start Up NFL Deal
by Charlie Amter
Aug 8, 2005, 9:45 PM PT
The Rolling Stones are ready for some football--and not the kind of football Americans call soccer.
The legendary U.K. rockers have signed a deal with the National Football League and ABC for the entire 2005-06 season of Monday Night Football.
Per the deal, the Stones will create multiple spots and intros for ABC's highly-rated weekly game.
The first taste of the promos will air Sept. 8 before the first game of the new season between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders. The clips will feature footage from the band's Aug. 31 Detroit show.
NFL suits are clearly hoping the Stones deal will boost the league's "hip" quotient. While the Hank Williams Jr. "Are You Ready for Some Football" tune that has been airing prior to Monday Night Football since 1989 will not be replaced, the Stones promos will augment the tune.
The Stones, in return, will get massive exposure of their new material from their forthcoming Virgin Records release, The Bigger Bang, to their core demographic of middle-aged males. The all-new studio set is due in stores Sept. 6.
The legendary foursome already has a non-traditional co-branded concert-themed promo airing nationwide as part of a financial services commercial.
Synergy will be on the band's side this fall, as they embark upon a North American tour that will hit most major U.S. cities just as the NFL season gets underway.
After the U.S. dates, which wrap Dec. 1 in Houston, the tour then travels in 2006 to Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Europe and perhaps China--a locale the band has been trying to play for years.
The last time the Stones undertook a similar large-scale jaunt was in 2002 for their Licks tour, which generated more than $88 million in ticket sales, per industry trade Pollstar.
The touring lineup will feature the core band: Mick Jagger , Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts.
Watts, who underwent radiation therapy to battle throat cancer last year, said he was "fine" at a press conference announcing the Bigger Bang tour and said he was looking forward to what may be Stones' final tour.
Tickets for the U.S. shows are already more than 95 percent sold out, according to Virgin Records.
Copyright © 2005 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All rights reserved.
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