UFC announced Bud Light might be its official beer as a part of a partnership with Anheuser-Busch following months of controversy surrounding the beer brand that erupted earlier this yr.
The mixed martial arts organization revealed Tuesday it struck a multiyear take care of the beer giant involving the Bud Light brand having a heavy presence in UFC’s content in its broadcasts and online starting in 2024.
“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,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a press release Tuesday. “There are numerous the explanation why I selected to go along with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most significantly because I feel we’re very aligned with regards to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for. I’m looking forward to all the incredible things we’ll do within the years ahead.”
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light have all the time been on the leading edge of iconic sporting moments that fans remember without end, and reuniting with UFC is a continuation of this industry leading legacy,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said within the press release. “As one among the biggest and longest standing sport sponsors, we’re excited to work with UFC to have fun our passionate fans while all the time making a positive impact in communities across America.”
“I’m proud to announce we’re back in business together,” UFC CEO Dana White said.AP
Anheuser-Busch might be replacing Modelo because the UFC’s official beer partner.
Appearing on “The Sean Hannity Show,” White said his decision to partner with Anheuser-Busch “was the furthest thing about money.”
“These guys employ 65,000 Americans, 1000’s of vets they employ. They spend over $700 million a yr with US farmers, , buying their crops for his or her product. And there’s many, many other reasons that I did this,” White told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on his radio show. “Where I sit personally with my core values and I felt just like the core values of the UFC, though we’re a world sport, and we’ve got fighters from all around the world. That is an American company. And I like this country and that is more about me being aligned with any person who’s a sponsor of the UFC and any person I’m going to work with day-after-day.”
Bud Light was the topic of a serious backlash last spring when it partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney for an Instagram ad about March Madness, sparking plummeting sales for several months. Instagram
Anheuser-Busch blamed a third-party marketer for sending the transgender influencer a can of Bud Light featuring a picture of Mulvaney, which she touted to her hundreds of thousands of social media followers on April 1.Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram
White alluded to the backlash Bud Light previously received by saying fans “may not love” every business decision that’s made by either UFC or Anheuser-Busch but insisted “it wasn’t a troublesome decision in any respect.”
“That is more about core values to me than the rest,” White added.
Bud Light was the topic of a serious backlash last spring when it partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney for an Instagram ad about March Madness, sparking plummeting sales for several months.
Things only got worse for the beer brand when it was subsequently revealed vp of selling Alissa Heinerscheid had swiped its core consumers by saying Bud Light’s past promoting was “fratty” and “out of touch humor.”
Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch said it was excited to work with UFC.AP
Beer Business Each day publisher Harry Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital last month that Bud Light’s fallen sales signals “quasi-permanent” damage to the brand and that longtime consumers “are only lost without end.”
Nevertheless, not all of its harshest critics have completely abandoned the long-lasting beer. Kid Rock, who went viral in April with a video of him gunning down a case of Bud Light, was spotted drinking a can of it at an event in August.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
