Shortly after Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys he sold the beer concession rights to Texas Stadium. What was unusual about this deal was that Texas Stadium, at that time, was not part of the Dallas Cowboys, because the NFL had a sponsorship with AB. When Jones sold the rights, the football team was experiencing several back to back losing seasons, having won just one game in the recent season. The price was reported to be one million for stadium rights. Initially, Coors turned down the sponsorship right, but Miller jumped on the opportunity.
The rest is history, including the fact that the Cowboys are now in AT&T stadium and Miller continues to hold the concession rights. As a side note, Miller’s purchase of the sponsorship rights in the early 90’s, fortunately for the distributor, coincided with the Cowboy’s ride to three Super Bowl titles. The beer sponsorship also includes The Star, the new, state-of-the-art, Cowboy practice center, along with signage, the Cowboys preseason camp, etc. It is close to impossible to find any brand other than Miller Lite in AT&T stadium. Not a bad investment for Miller!
Professional sports sponsorships are nothing new. As the NFL grew in popularity, so did the rising costs of sponsorships, but measuring the overall effectiveness of said sponsorships on market sales is, at best, challenging.
Wholesalers benefit when their supplier obtains the rights to sponsorships. The benefits include not only direct sales, but also the the spill-over effect into the wholesalers’ market from the leveraging of tickets, events and other activities with the team. It is hard to beat that kind of excitement.
The industry is changing rapidly, including traditional media methods of marketing. In the craft world, social media has become the media giant of this segment of the industry, in many ways, defining crafts. The craft industry owns social media, live social media and depends upon social media. While all beer companies use social media, social media is the life blood of the craft industry.
So the question for the major breweries is how can they effectively market their products? Especially, how can these major breweries market their product to the young consumers who are cutting the cord for cable TV. So far, traditional marketing has not worked, nor have their efforts in social media. Numbers do not lie.
ABI might be forced to produce a radical marketing strategy that can truly make a difference over time. First, their NFL-team-themed cans, while not a new idea, should drive volume. Home town fans will support their NFL team by buying such cans, not only at the stadium, but for tailgating parties, barbecues or simply because loyal fans enjoy a beer at home. How can you have a get-together to watch your favorite NFL team without serving beer in your favorite teams’ can? Logo beer cans will be manufactured for all but four NFL teams.
As smart as the NFL sponsorship is, ABI has gone one step further. In recent years many colleges have gone wet in their football stadiums and basketball arenas, making beer available to all attendees, including LDA students. The students are going to drink anyway, why not make some money by selling them beer at the event?
A recently announced commitment between with AB and Texas A&M is similar to the transaction between AB and the NFL. AB will now be able to produce and display signage and logos on campus and near campus pubs, plus, AB will receive the media rights, and probably scoreboard logo rights for A&M. Not only will ABI have access to these young LDA students, given the political and social environment of the U.S. today, one might expect the lowering of the legal drinking age to 18 or 19. This puts AB in a prime position to market their products directly to these young college consumers. Expect a land rush by AB and MC to sign a plethora of major colleges, especially in the five powerhouse conferences.
This is the type of marketing that crafts are not eligible in which to play. While crafts own the social media, AB and MC will own the sponsorship channel, and over time, it will make a difference in the amount of revenue generated.
You’ll never lose a game if your opponent doesn’t score….
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