Pokémon is preparing to mark three decades of catching, battling, and trading with a full-year celebration that starts on the biggest advertising stage in American sports. The brand’s 30th anniversary push will debut with a new Super Bowl LX commercial, then roll into a calendar of events that stretches to Pokémon Day 2026 and beyond. I see a campaign that is not just looking back at nostalgia, but using the moment to reset how the franchise shows up in games, cards, and live experiences.
The stakes are high for a series that began in 1996 and has since become one of the most recognizable entertainment properties on the planet. By tying its anniversary to Super Bowl LX and a yearlong slate of promotions, Pokémon is signaling that this milestone is as much about future players as it is about fans who remember the original Game Boy cartridges.
Super Bowl LX as the global kickoff
Starting a 30th anniversary campaign at Super Bowl LX is a clear statement that Pokémon wants mainstream attention, not just core fan buzz. The game is scheduled for Sunday Feb. 8 in 2026, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and advertising slots around it remain some of the most expensive and scrutinized in media. A Meta Reality Labs post promoting one of its own spots for “#SBLX Super Bowl LX – Sunday Feb. 8 6:30pm ET on NBC” shows how brands frame this broadcast as a cultural tentpole, and Pokémon is now stepping into that same arena with its new commercial, using the event as the first big beat in its Yearlong Campaign.
The choice of Super Bowl LX also places Pokémon alongside other consumer brands that see the game as a launchpad for new creative directions. Candy maker Ferrara Candy, for example, is returning with its Nerds brand for a third consecutive Super Bowl, aiming to “repeat the colorful splash” it made in a previous outing and confirming that its ad will air the night of February 8, 2026, during the Super Bowl. By joining that lineup, Pokémon is treating its 30th anniversary not as a niche gaming moment, but as a mass-market entertainment story designed to reach viewers who may not have picked up a Poké Ball in years.
A franchise built for milestone moments
The scale of this anniversary push only makes sense when you look at how large the franchise has become since its debut. The original Pok games launched on February 27, 1996, in Japan, and the series has since expanded across multiple generations of Nintendo hardware, with each wave introducing new regions, creatures, and mechanics. According to the long-running overview of the Pok video game series, the core titles are organized into generations that track each generation of Nintendo’s handhelds, and Remakes of the earlier games have become a recurring way to reintroduce classic content to new audiences.
That structure has trained fans to expect big shifts at regular intervals, which is why a 30th anniversary carries more weight than a simple birthday. Community speculation is already swirling around what the next mainline release might look like, with some fans focused on a possible launch window for a game currently referred to as Pok Champions and others wondering whether the anniversary will bring a full reveal of the next generation. Coverage of Pokémon Day 2026 notes that, in addition to the franchise’s 30th year, players are watching for news on Pok Champions and any hints at the next “catch-’em-all” milestone, framing the anniversary as a hinge point between eras rather than a one-off party, as outlined in recent Jan reporting.
Pokémon Day 2026 as the campaign’s emotional peak
While the Super Bowl LX spot will give the anniversary its loudest single moment, the emotional center of the celebration is likely to be Pokémon Day 2026. The date, February 27, marks exactly 30 Years since the original games arrived in Japan, and official messaging already positions it as a chance to “celebrate 30 years of fun” with fans. Nintendo is using its flagship Manhattan store as a hub, inviting players to Join friends at Nintendo NEW YORK for a full day of activities that highlight the series’ history and its current lineup, according to the event description for Nintendo NEW YORK Pokémon Day 2026.
That in-person celebration sits alongside a broader digital drumbeat that will likely define the Yearlong Campaign. Fans are already mapping out what to expect from the anniversary stream and related announcements, with attention on how Pok Day broadcasts might tie together game news, trading card reveals, and cross-media projects. One breakdown of Pokémon Day 2026 plans highlights that, in addition to Pok’s 30th birthday, the event is expected to touch on Pok Champions and other future-facing projects, reinforcing that the Day is both a nostalgic look back and a forward-looking showcase for the next phase of the brand’s evolution, as detailed in recent coverage of Pok Day 2026.
Trading cards and the Celebration Collection question
No Pokémon anniversary feels complete without a major play in the trading card game, and the 30th looks set to follow that pattern. Retail listings already point to a Pokémon Day 2026 TCG Collection that is timed specifically to celebrate Pok’s 30th year, bundling booster packs from different sets and a metallic Pokémon Day coin into a commemorative product. The collection is scheduled to launch on January 30 alongside a set called Ascended Heroes, and recent coverage notes that the bundle includes three Pokémon TCG booster packs and other extras, with some retailers already discounting the package ahead of release, according to a breakdown of the Pok Day TCG collection.
Behind the scenes, there are also signs that The Pokemon Company is preparing a more ambitious anniversary set. A trademark filing in Japan for the name Celebration Collection, written out in English, mirrors how previous Pokémon TCG sets have been registered before announcement. Commentary on the filing points out that a Celebrations set arrived for the 25th anniversary and focused heavily on Kanto-era cards, and suggests that a similar approach is likely for the 30th. As of now, The Pokemon Company has not formally announced any new anniversary sets of Pokemon cards for 2026 and has been described as relatively tight-lipped about its broader plans, but the Celebration Collection trademark is widely seen as a strong hint that a dedicated 30th anniversary product line is on the way, as summarized in a recent post noting that, As of the latest updates, The Pokemon Company has yet to confirm those details.
Fan speculation, timing, and the year ahead
Even before the Super Bowl LX spot airs, fans are treating the 30th anniversary as a yearlong puzzle to solve. A teaser labeled with the hashtag #Pokemon30 has already circulated in enthusiast spaces, with one Reddit thread titled “#Pokemon30 | Teaser Trailer” summarizing the core promise as “Pokémon to Celebrate 30 Years with Yearlong Campaign, Kicking Off with New Super Bowl LX Spot.” In that discussion, users dissect the brief footage frame by frame, debating whether it hints at Pok Champions, a new region, or simply a montage of legacy moments, and the post’s description explicitly calls out that the brand will Celebrate 30 Years through a Yearlong Campaign Kicking Off around the big game, as captured in the Celebrate teaser.
All of this unfolds against a backdrop where precise timing and global coordination matter more than ever. Pokémon Day 2026, Super Bowl LX, and the staggered release of products like Ascended Heroes and the Pokémon Day TCG Collection are spread across different weeks and time zones, and the company will rely on standardized time data to keep messaging consistent across regions. Services that aggregate and distribute official time information, such as Google Time, quietly underpin how countdowns, livestream schedules, and in-game events line up for players from New York to Tokyo. For a campaign built around nostalgia and global participation, getting those details right is as important as any single trailer or card reveal.
