Bud Light teams up with NFL

In a bid to grow new sales in the brand, AB InBev’s Bud Light has teamed up with the National Football League (NFL) to promote the lager.

The new deal will see a campaign called Easy to Sunday promoted, which includes new TV and digital advertising, and will run during the traditional NFL season in autumn and winter 2024/2025.

In addition, the brand will release special edition cans for 23 NFL teams, complete with the team colours, logos and an illustration of the players.

There are currently 32 teams in the NFL, and as USA Today notes, not all of them decided to opt into the deal with Bud Light, revealing the tailwinds from the controversy that erupted last year for the brand haven’t completely subsided.

Cans are currently arriving in stores at present, with each one featuring a QR code that can be scanned with the change to win one of 2,000 subscriptions to the NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV, and e-gift cards from the Fanatics merchandise website.

According to Anheuser-Busch’s CEO Michael Doukeris, who was also signposted by USA Today, he has informed investors that around 80% of more than 170,000 consumers that were surveyed gave a “favourable or neutral” rating of Bud Light.

Without debate

He said Bud Light consumers “want to enjoy their beer without a debate” and “they want Bud Light to focus on beer. Three, they want Bud Light to concentrate on the platforms that all consumers love, such as NFL.”

Speaking about the campaign, Todd Allen, Vice President of Marketing for Bud Light, said: “Bud Light has been the Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL for over 27 years, and every season we look forward to delighting fans by making their gameday celebrations easier over a Bud Light and America’s most popular sport: football.

“We know for NFL fans Sunday has become synonymous not only with game day, but also with time-honored traditions. Our new ‘Easy to Sunday’ campaign celebrates and honors those real Sunday moments that bring NFL fans across the country closer to their friends, their family and their local communities – and we are so proud to play a role in as a brand.”

Super Bowl

The news follows on-trade beer sales rising 16% during the Super Bowl, but the vent was further bad news for AB InBev’s Bud Light brand which had easily topped the on-premise sales table for the 2023 game.

AB InBev spent heavily on the day to restore Bud Light among fans’ affections, even harking back to iconic heritage advertising featuring Clydesdale heavy horses.

But the campaign fell flat with Bud Light’s sales on the day plummeting a massive 50% below those on Super Bowl day in 2023.