PEPSI® and the New York Knicks are tipping off the 2026–27 season with Champions Deserve Pepsi, a new campaign honoring the team’s historic title and the fans who were there every step of the way. Starting today, the campaign will hit shelves across New York with limited-edition 16 oz PEPSI® x Knicks Championship cans and limited-edition 20 oz PEPSI® and PEPSI® Zero Sugar x Knicks bottles. Closer to the Knicks’ season tip-off at The Garden, new digital billboards featuring real fan imagery from the playoffs will hit NYC streets. At the center of Champions Deserve Pepsi is a limited-edition 16 oz PEPSI® x Knicks Championship can, available alongside limited-edition 20 oz PEPSI® and PEPSI® Zero Sugar x Knicks bottles at participating retailers across the Tri-State region. Fans can scan the QR code at point of sale for a chance to win Knicks tickets. In a nod to the 94–90 Game 5 victory that secured the 2026 Championship title, 94 fans will have a chance to visit The Garden, one for every winning point*, through an exclusive sweepstakes program.
“Once a Knick, always a Knick, but the real honor is being part of this fan base for life,” John Starks, former New York Knicks shooting guard commented . “New York fans bring an energy you can’t find anywhere else, and they deserve to be at The Garden celebrating this team. I love that Pepsi is putting fans first and giving even more of them a chance to experience it for themselves.”
Throughout the playoffs, PEPSI® put New York’s Knicks fandom front and center with Knicks Fans Deserve Pepsi, a collector-can scavenger hunt across the five boroughs, and WE OUTSIDE, a real-time campaign which turned photos of Knicks fans from games 3 and 4 into billboards across New York. Now, heading into the Knicks’ championship season, Champions Deserve Pepsi brings familiar faces back to NYC streets and select fans inside The Garden, where John Starks surprised them with an early look at the new commemorative championship cans.
- “Champions Deserve Pepsi” introduces limited-edition Pepsi x Knicks Championship cans, available at participating retailers across the New York City Tri-State area
- Knicks legend John Starks surprised select fans with an early look at the commemorative cans inside the Knicks’ locker room as part of the “Champions Deserve Pepsi” launch
- Fans can scan the QR code at point of sale for a chance to win Knicks tickets at The Garden
“The fans have inspired this campaign from the beginning,” Gustavo Reyna, VP of Marketing, PEPSI® commented.”Every step of the way, we’ve seen how they were showing up for the Knicks and found new ways to show up for them. Champions Deserve Pepsi is the next expression of that, celebrating an incredible championship and the New Yorkers who were there for it.”
As the official soft drink partner of Madison Square Garden, PEPSI® has been part of Knicks game days since 2018.
*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void Where Prohibited. Sweepstakes ends on 12/31/2026. US legal residents who are 18 years of age or older and are residents of NY, CT, NJ and residing within a 150-mile radius of Madison Square Garden, NY. Subject to official rules www.pepsipromos.com/Knicks.
