E-Malt.com News article: USA: Budweiser will become an “Official Beer Sponsor” of the Carolina Panthers

Budweiser announced on April 21 it will become an “Official Beer Sponsor” of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL) through the 2010-11 season under an agreement announced Thursday by America’s leading brewer. The six-year deal marks the first agreement between Anheuser-Busch and the Carolina Panthers, who become the 28th NFL team sponsored by Budweiser, the world’s best-selling beer.

“Anheuser-Busch is excited to add the Carolina Panthers to our growing list of football sponsorships,” said Tony Ponturo, vice president of Global Media and Sports Marketing, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “The Budweiser Family has long been associated with football in America. Carolina fans will now enjoy Budweiser’s support all season long at the stadium and on the airwaves.”

The “King of Beers” will promote the NFL team to adult consumers throughout the region through significant advertising and promotional opportunities during preseason game broadcasts and the “Panthers Unleashed” post-game show on WCCB-TV (FOX). Budweiser also will have a presence on WRFX radio’s game broadcasts and “Panther Talk,” the official show of head coach John Fox, plus significant in-stadium, concourse and scoreboard signage.

Anheuser-Busch sponsors 28 of 32 NFL teams, with team sponsorships supported by advertising on NFL game broadcasts with all of the league’s network broadcast partners. The company has served as the exclusive malt beverage advertiser of the Super Bowl for 17 consecutive years.

The Carolina Panthers became the NFL’s 29th franchise in 1993 and began play in 1995. Carolina secured its first Super Bowl berth in 2004 and lost by a field goal to the New England Patriots with just four seconds remaining on the clock.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc. is the leading American brewer holding 50 percent of the U.S. beer market. The company is American-owned and brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch also holds a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in Tsingtao, the No. 1 brewer in China. Anheuser-Busch ranked first in the U.S. beverage industry in FORTUNE magazine’s 2005 “America’s Most Admired Companies” and in the top 30 on FORTUNE’s 2005 “Global Most Admired Companies” list. The company is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the world’s largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers.


24 April, 2005