Sponsorship Deals Brewing
Shares of Anheuser-Busch rose Wednesday after the brewing giant said it signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the National Basketball Association.
Anheuser-Busch (BUD) said it's now the domestic and global "Official Beer Sponsor" of the NBA, a title formerly held by Philip Morris (MO) unit Miller Brewing Co.
Shares of Anheuser-Busch rose 1 5/8 to to 67 1/2 on Wednesday. Philip Morris fell 2 3/16 to 48 5/8.
The deal tops off Budweiser sponsorships with Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League.
"We've always viewed the NBA as a prestige property and an impactful way to reach our target audience of adult beer drinkers," Tony Ponturo, Anheuser-Busch vice president for corporate media and sports marketing, said in a statement.
Anheuser-Busch gets rights to use all 29 NBA team names and logos, as well as those of the league, the NBA All-Star Game, Playoffs and Finals.
A promotional program begins in early February.
Budweiser plans to plug its sponsorship with a new TV ad by agency DDB Needham, Chicago featuring the "Blimp Guys" and the Bud One Airship. The spot will air on NBC, TNT, TBS, ESPN and locally televised NBA games. Shares of DDB Needham parent Omnicom (OMC) rose 2 to 58 1/2 on Wednesday.
The NBA deal followed separate Bud relationships with 21 of the league's 29 teams.
Separately, Anheuser-Busch disclosed Wednesday that it has secured the rights to keep its exclusive position as the lone beer advertiser in the next four NFL title game telecasts.
The world's biggest brewer has purchased five minutes and 15 seconds of commercial time on this year's Super Bowl telecast, Bob Lachky, vice president of brand management for Anhesuser-Busch, said Wednesday. That is more time than any other single advertiser on the telecast, which will be carried Jan. 31 on the Fox television network.
Lachky said the St. Louis-based brewer has also secured the exclusive rights in the beer category to the Super Bowl telecasts that will be carried on ABC in the year 2000, CBS in 2001 and Fox in 2002.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but Fox has been getting an average of $1.6 million for each 30-second slot on this year's broadcast that will feature the Denver Broncos against the Atlanta Falcons for the NFL title.
At that rate, the time purchased by the St. Louis-based brewer would be valued at $16.8 million. There have been reports it paid as much as $2 million for each 30 second slot on the game to get exclusivity in the beer category.
The Super Bowl telecasts regularly attract the biggest audience of the television season, with upwards of 120 million people expected to tune in for at least part of this year's game.
Anheuser-Busch intends to feature its Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob Light brands on this year's telecast.