Bud Light, made by Anheuser-Busch, sits on a store shelf in Miami on July 27, 2023.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light will again grow to be the official beer sponsor for the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a six-year marketing partnership, the businesses announced Tuesday.
The sponsorship deal is “well into the nine figures,” and the biggest within the mixed martial arts promotion’s history, a source accustomed to the deal told CNBC on Tuesday.
As a part of the agreement, Bud Light will receive exclusive and distinguished branding at UFC fights and events, in addition to in-arena promotion. As well as, the brewer will collaborate on original content for UFC’s digital and social channels.
The deal goes into effect Jan. 1.
The agreement comes on the heels of a conservative boycott against Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light that began this spring when the brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The backlash put a dent in sales for the beer within the weeks that followed. At the peak of the backlash, Modelo Especial dethroned Bud Light as the best-selling beer within the U.S.
With the deal, Anheuser-Busch reestablishes ties with a corporation perceived to have a more conservative political bent than many other U.S. sports leagues. UFC CEO Dana White donated no less than $1 million to a political motion committee that supported Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, and the ex-president appeared at a UFC event in Las Vegas earlier this 12 months.
Anheuser-Busch’s relationship with UFC dates back to 2008. In 2017, the mixed martial arts company took on the fast-growing Modelo as its official beer sponsor.
Bud Light will now replace Modelo, which is distributed by Constellation Brands.
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light have at all times been on the leading edge of iconic sporting moments that fans remember eternally, and reuniting with UFC is a continuation of this industry leading legacy,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in an announcement.
The UFC, which is owned by the newly formed TKO Group Holdings Inc., reaches an audience of greater than 700 million fans, the businesses said. The partnership grants Bud Light visibility in an estimated 900 million TV households in greater than 170 countries.
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC’s original beer sponsors greater than fifteen years ago. I’m proud to announce we’re back in business together,” White said.
“There are a lot of the explanation why I selected to go together with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most significantly because I feel we’re very aligned relating to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for,” he added.
Don’t miss these CNBC PRO stories:
