Budweiser and NBA Announce Renewal of Multiyear Marketing Partnership
(St. Louis, MO) – Budweiser and the National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced a multiyear expansion of their marketing partnership that will continue the brand’s position as the Official Beer Partner of the NBA. This announcement extends Budweiser’s long-standing relationship with the NBA which dates back to 1998.
“The National Basketball Association has been an important component of our sports sponsorship portfolio, and we’re excited to continue building on our 13-year partnership with the league,” said Rob McCarthy, vice president, Budweiser. “One of the biggest advantages of the renewal is our ability to integrate Budweiser into key dates on the NBA calendar, including the highly anticipated Christmas Day games, All-Star Game and NBA Playoffs, through unique, fan-centric experiences.”
“Anheuser-Busch is a company rich in history and tradition, and a category leader on a global scale,” said Mark Tatum, NBA Executive Vice President, Global Marketing Partnerships. “We look forward to continuing our partnership as the Budweiser brand will play an important role in enhancing the overall experience for our fans.”
Throughout the partnership, Budweiser will focus on providing fans with unique opportunities during some of the most exciting times of the NBA season, including NBA All-Star and the NBA Playoffs. The Budweiser brand will develop programs that will allow fans to receive unprecedented access to NBA events and receive unique NBA experiences.
As part of its partnership, Budweiser will retain a significant presence during NBA national game telecasts on ABC, ESPN and TNT, along with NBA Digital properties NBA TV and NBA.com. Budweiser will also release NBA-themed television advertising, packaging and point-of-sale materials at retail.
In addition to the overall NBA partnership, Budweiser maintains partnerships with twenty-six NBA teams and will continue using its team relationships to engage fans at the local level.
About Anheuser-Busch
Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.3 percent share of U.S. beer sales to retailers. The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer. Anheuser-Busch is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and has been a leading aluminum recycler for more than 30 years. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer, and continues to operate under the Anheuser-Busch name and logo. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.
About the NBA
The NBA, founded in 1946, is a professional sports league and global business that features 30 teams in the United States and Canada. During the 2010-11 season, NBA games reached 215 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. End-of-season NBA rosters featured 85 players from 41 countries and territories. NBA merchandise is sold in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. NBA.com averages more than 26 million page views per day, with more than 50 percent of the site’s visitors coming from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 U.S. sports league on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, with the most fans, followers, and videos viewed on each, respectively. Through NBA Cares, the league, its teams and players have donated more than $165 million to charity, completed more than 1.7 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 625 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.