Anheuser-Busch And NBA Announce Multiyear Marketing Partnership Renewal

NEW YORK, Dec. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today a four-year extension of their long-term marketing partnership, which began in 1998. 

Anheuser-Busch will continue as the Official Beer Partner of the NBA, Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and NBA Development League (NBA D-League).  As part of the agreement, Anheuser-Busch will also expand its marketing partnership to include USA Basketball and the league's Hispanic marketing initiative, Noches éne-bé-a.

For the first time, Anheuser-Busch and the league will work together to produce an original digital content media series, designed to bring its brand messages to life through basketball. These videos will appear on NBA-owned properties and will be shared on Anheuser-Busch-owned properties this season.

The partnership also includes enhanced packaging and marketing rights. Anheuser-Busch can now feature select NBA and team logos collectively on a national basis on cans, bottles and other packaging and in promotional campaigns, enabling its brands to better connect with the league's rapidly expanding national fan base.  

A number of Anheuser-Busch's flagship brands will activate as part of this partnership.  Starting this season, Budweiser and Bud Light will run NBA marketing activations at the same time, with each brand owning year-round platforms and different marquee league events, including NBA All-Star, NBA Playoffs, The Finals, NBA Draft, and WNBA All-Star.

"We've expanded this longstanding partnership in key areas that matter to our consumers, like content, packaging, and our new affiliation with USA Basketball," said Lucas Herscovici, Vice President, Consumer Connections at Anheuser-Busch. "The new agreement will allow us to connect our brands with the league, its teams, and its fans through authentic campaigns that shape the industry." 

"Our relationship with Anheuser-Busch is one of our longest standing partnerships, and we're thrilled to be expanding our activation in new ways that span the basketball calendar," said Emilio Collins, NBA Executive Vice President, Global Marketing Partnerships.  "The marketing commitments being made by the Budweiser and Bud Light brands will engage fans in a multitude of new ways through live events, retail programs, digital activation and great storytelling."

In addition to its league partnership, Anheuser-Busch will promote its brands via the NBA's broadcast partners and continue to engage fans locally through its 22 team deals.  Anheuser-Busch also has NBA partnerships in other regions, including a recently announced extension with Harbin Beer in China, and a new partnership in Brazil.

About Anheuser-Busch
For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch and its world-class brewmasters have carried on a legacy of brewing America's most-popular beers. Starting with the finest ingredients sourced from Anheuser-Busch's family of growers, every batch is crafted using the same exacting standards and time-honored traditions passed down through generations of proud Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and employees. Best known for its fine American-style lagers, Budweiser and Bud Light, the company's beers lead numerous beer segments and combined hold 46.4 percent share of the U.S. beer market. Budweiser and Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita were named Brands of the Year for the Beer and the Spirits, Malt Beverages and Wine categories, respectively, by Ace Metrix® in 2014. Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev and operates 16 local breweries, 17 distributorships and 23 agricultural and packaging facilities across the United States, representing a capital investment of more than $15.9 billion. Its flagship brewery remains in St. Louis, Mo., and is among the global company's largest and most technologically capable breweries. Visitor and special beermaster tours are available at its St. Louis and five other Anheuser-Busch breweries. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women's National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season featured 100 international players from 37 countries and territories.  NBA Digital's assets include NBA.com and NBA Mobile, which achieved record traffic during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 915 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

Contacts:
David McKenzie, Anheuser-Busch, [email protected]
Michael Chavez Booth, [email protected], (212) 407-8692

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch

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