Category: Beer

Beer–an understandably massive sponsorship category, given its popularity–has nearly 900 brands buying sponsorships and media across the sports and entertainment industries.

Three of the top brewers in the game–Anheuser-Busch InBev, Molson Coors Brewing Company, and Constellation Brands–dominate the partnership landscape with their marquee brands.

Bud Light leads the pack with more than 400 sponsorship deals–over 100 more than sister brand Budweiser in second place. Michelob Ultra’s third-place position gives parent AB InBev, the world’s largest beer company, the top three spots. 

In social media, Bud Light also rules the roost with over 8M total followers (FB, TW, IG, TT). The Washington Capitals, one of its longtime partners, tagged the brand in more than 170 posts last season.

With over 200 deals, Coors Light is another sponsorship and social media powerhouse, with just north of 3M total followers. More than 10% of the beer’s total branded posts are with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, an AHL team that tagged Coors Light in 288 posts during their season. Twitter is the brand’s most utilized channel, and 29% of its partnerships include social media posts. 

For 31 years, Coors has been the naming rights partner of Coors Field, home to the Colorado Rockies. Coors’ other assets throughout the stadium include:

• Seating section naming rights
• Bullpen signage
• Logo on lower bowl seats
• Interior signage
• Concourse signage
• Event content and activations, including the Designated Driver Program for fans 

Corona USA, a high-wattage property of Constellation Brands, has just under 100 sponsorship deals. Earlier this year, Corona inked a contract with the MLB  to become its “Official Cerveza.” The partnership marks the first time the league has split its beer sponsorship category, as Budweiser is the Official Beer of the MLB. 

Corona’s MLB partnership has boosted the brand’s profile on social media: the league has tagged the beer over 40 times in posts this season, 3 of which are Corona’s most successful posts to date by total engagement.

In a separate deal within the league, the Seattle Mariners signed Corona with the same “Official Cerveza” designation. A club within T-Mobile Park was christened the Corona Beach Club as part of the naming rights included in the partnership. 

A beer brewed in Mexico, Dos Equis stays close to their roots having over 35 sponsorship or media deals just across the border in southwestern United States. Dos Equis’ largest deal in terms of the number of sponsorship assets is with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. In this deal, the brand has naming rights to the beer garden inside of the arena, as well as digital signage during games.

However, NCAA earns the spotlight in terms of deals with Dos Equis. 

The Mexican beer has partnership deals with five NCAA Bowls and Tourneys including the Rose Bowl and the Playstation Fiesta Bowl. The brand also has deals with over 15 NCAA Schools and Conferences like the NCAA Football Champions, the Georgia Bulldogs, and The Big Ten Conference.

Aside from Official Sponsorship status, Concourse Signage is in almost 40% of all of the brands sponsorship deals. Venue Entitlements is included in 25% of all sponsorship deals like the Cool Zone in partnership with the Texas A&M Aggies. 

Even with more than 30 sponsorship deals, the import and domestic beer category has many brands with even more partnerships. Dos Equis falls in the top 15 in the category which is led by Bud Light.