Michelob Ultra Signs Multiyear Deal to Become Official Beer of NHL
Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Ultra becomes an official beer sponsor of the NHL and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, extending a sports portfolio that includes the NBA, FIFA World Cup and the Olympics.
Updated
The brief
- Michelob Ultra signed a multiyear deal to become an official beer sponsor of the NHL in the U.S., announced today.
- The brand becomes official beer sponsor of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final, and will continue sponsoring 18 NHL teams.
- The NHL joins a Michelob Ultra portfolio that includes the NBA, FIFA World Cup, Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026, LA28 and the PGA Tour.
Michelob Ultra has signed a multiyear partnership to become an official beer sponsor of the National Hockey League in the U.S., the Anheuser-Busch brand announced today.
The deal also makes Michelob Ultra the official beer sponsor of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final. The brand will activate around the league's tentpole events, including the NHL Winter Classic and NHL All-Star, alongside the playoffs.
The sponsorship does not displace the brand's club-level presence. Michelob Ultra will continue its current sponsorship of 18 NHL teams, and hockey fans can expect limited-edition team packaging for the upcoming season.
According to Michelob Ultra, the NHL deal extends its "Superior Access" platform, which aims to create an insider experience for fans.
"We're honored to add the NHL to Anheuser-Busch's iconic portfolio of sports partnerships, bringing hockey fans across America closer to the league's superior moments on and off the ice for years to come," Kyle Norrington, chief commercial officer at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement.
The NHL joins a sports roster that already includes premier sponsorships in the NBA, the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026, LA28 and the PGA Tour. That lineup gives the brand year-round touchpoints across winter and summer Olympic cycles, global football and basketball.
Michelob Ultra has a track record of using one sports property to promote another. In the latest Super Bowl, the brand's Big Game ad championed the Milano Cortina Olympics, the same Games it sponsors through 2026.
The NHL partnership gives Michelob Ultra a second major winter-sports platform alongside Milano Cortina, positioning the brand to dominate hockey and Olympic programming in back-to-back winters. For the league, the deal adds a top-spending beer marketer to a U.S. sponsor roster at a moment when NHL tentpole events, from the Winter Classic to the Stanley Cup Final, are drawing growing audiences.
Based on Adweek
Filed under michelob-ultra, nhl, sports-sponsorship, anheuser-busch, beer-marketing
Amara Osei
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News editor covering industry trends and analytics at Marketing Herald.