Bud Light Works to Save Image After Dylan Mulvaney Controversy by Signing Multiyear Sponsorship Deal With UFC
(Photo: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) have signed a sponsorship deal for Bud Light. The deal comes after AB InBev recently offered $150 million in “relief” to distributors hit by decreased sales of the former number-one beer brand.
The new partnership with UFC will make Bud Light the official brand of the mixed martial arts league. Bud Light branding will be “highly visible” during fights and weigh-ins as part of this multiyear sponsorship that begins on Jan. 1, 2024.
According to a Bloomberg source, the terms of the deal make this the biggest deal ever for the UFC and exceeds a previous deal with Crypto.com worth $175 million. Bud Light’s previous sponsorship deal ended in 2017.
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC’s original beer sponsors more than 15 years ago,” UFC Chief Executive Officer Dana White said in a statement. “I’m proud to announce we are back in business together.“
The Bud Light brand has been hurting after controversy surrounding some custom cans made for influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The personal custom cans with Mulvaney’s face on them celebrated the influencer’s 365 days of womanhood. The Instagram post sparked a flurry of comments that grew into a movement of conservative rage towards the beer brand. The frenzy appears to have mostly calmed but the brand was hit with huge sales losses and still hasn’t regained its status as the most sold beer in America.
The loss in sales prompted AB InBev to offer distributors relief aid to keep Bud Light on the shelves. The move may be ethnically questionable but the “world’s largest brewer” seems desperate to regain its following.
However, UFC CEO and president Dana White told FOX News’ Sean Hannity, “When you do sponsorships, you definitely do sponsorships for the money, too. Money is definitely a part of it, but money was not the decision-making [factor],”
White continued, “There’s more to being aligned with a sponsor, a major sponsor like that, for as long as I’m going to be… There are many other things that are important to me other than just the money.”
He added, “And the people that were all involved in this negotiation, on every side, absolutely, positively know that my choice was not determined by money.”
Regardless of the deal being entirely based on money, the new deal with UFC may help Bud Light change its image by presenting itself to a targeted audience.
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