More than 20 Non-Alcoholic Beer brands are currently buying sponsorship or media, with an average of 10 sponsorships per brand. Given the market’s concentrated nature, these brands are seeing a big return on investment through high-impact sponsorships in this fast-growing segment.

The Non-Alcoholic Beer category has carved out an increasingly prominent niche in the global beverage market in recent years—especially in sponsorships, where the number of active brands has spiked 156% since 2021. These beverages’ surging popularity—US sales of non-alcoholic beer rose 32% year-over-year through September 9th, according to NielsenIQ—not only reflects consumers’ expanding appetites for healthier lifestyle choices, but also presents a solution for brands navigating the complex regulatory landscapes of sports marketing. In arenas where traditional alcohol sponsorships are restricted or prohibited, non-alcoholic beers offer a creative workaround, enabling companies to maintain a presence in the highly coveted sports sponsorship universe while championing responsible consumption.

Athletic Brewing Company leads the category with more than 60 sponsorships with rights holders including IRONMAN, the Seattle Mariners, and the Indiana Pacers. Heineken 0.0 is a close second with over 55 deals, partnering with properties like Formula 1, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Miami Dolphins. Ranking third with more than 15 sponsorships, Spain’s Estrella Galicia 0.0 focuses on motorsports, and counts Scuderia Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Repsol Honda Team, and Marc Marquez among its high-profile partners. Earlier this month, the McLaren F1 Team made headlines with the announcement that Estrella Galicia 0.0 will be its Official Beer Partner for the 2024 season and beyond.

In other big news, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, announced on January 12th that it will become a Worldwide Olympic Partner through 2028—the Olympics' first-ever global beer sponsorship—and in another historic move, that its fast-growing Corona Cero zero-alcohol beer will be the Games’ global beer sponsor. 

With this groundbreaking deal poised to provide non-alcoholic beer with an unprecedented platform worldwide when the Olympics begin this July in Paris, watch this space for more sponsorship news in this quickly evolving industry.