The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has partnered with alcoholic beverage giant Anheuser-Busch in a multiyear deal that will once again make Bud Light its official sponsor.
“UFC®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization and part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), together with Anheuser-Busch, one of America’s most iconic companies, today announced a new multiyear marketing partnership. Effective January 1, 2024, the brewer will become the exclusive “Official Beer Partner of UFC,” Anheuser-Busch announced in a press release.
Bud Light is looking to repair the damage to its battered brand, seeming to hope that partnering with the hyper-masculine mixed martial arts organization will wash away the aftertaste of Dylan Mulvaney, the transgender TikTok influencer who it hooked up with in what will go down as one of the most disastrous decisions in corporate marketing history.
We’re proud to announce that starting in 2024, we’ll once again be the official beer sponsor of @UFC pic.twitter.com/n9jcDyLhVv
— Bud Light (@budlight) October 24, 2023
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC’s original beer sponsors more than fifteen years ago. I’m proud to announce we are back in business together,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a press release. “There are many reasons why I chose to go with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most importantly because I feel we are very aligned when it comes to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for. I’m looking forward to all of the incredible things we will do in the years ahead.”
Anheuser-Busch will replace Modelo as the UFC’s official beer sponsor. Terms of the deal were not immediately available although Yahoo Sports reported that a source told that outlet that it was in excess of $100 million.
In an appearance on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s radio show, White said that the deal “was the furthest thing about money.”
“These guys employ 65,000 Americans, thousands of vets they employ. They spend over $700 million a year with U.S. farmers, you know, buying their crops for their product. And there’s many, many other reasons that I did this,” he told Hannity.”Where I sit personally with my core values and I felt like the core values of the UFC, even though we’re a global sport, and we have fighters from all over the world. This is an American company. And I love this country and this is more about me being aligned with somebody who is a sponsor of the UFC and somebody I’m going to work with every day.”
While the furor over Mulvaney has died down, some aren’t ready to just pop a top on one of the familiar blue and white cans and let bygones by bygones and they took to X, formerly Twitter, with their takes on the UFC-Bud Light pact.
Bud Light just spent $100 million on a UFC sponsorship deal to try and cancel out the chicks with dicks ad. No one is drinking Bud Light at any tailgate I’ve been to this fall. Brand is dead: https://t.co/RfCe4AxurB
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 24, 2023
So UFC decided to do a deal with Bud Light, and all I can say is that if you’re going to sell out and mortgage your dignity, I hope they got a lot of money.
What a freaking embarrassment.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) October 25, 2023
The dumbest move in marketing aside from Bud Light partnering with Dylan Mulvaney is UFC accepting them as their new official sponsor.
Way to read the room @DanaWhite!
MORON!
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) October 25, 2023
Welp, there goes watching the UFC now. Darn.
— Enumerated Powers (@EnumeratedPow) October 25, 2023
As a long time UFC/MMA fan, I will never spend money purchasing a PPV for any UFC event. The reason many people banned Bud Light wasn’t only because people didn’t like Dylan Mulvaney portraying a woman, but because there is sadistic war on children attached to the trans movement.
— MD (@MaxDiscourse) October 25, 2023
I thought this was a joke. I guess the UFC will do anything to grow, but I won’t be a part of it. UFC294 was my last PPV buy. What a shame it will bring fans away from the sport. Plus, Modelo is actually a good beer.
— Shoulder to the Stone (@shouldertostone) October 25, 2023
The UFC must be broke or punch drunk. Are skirts optional?
Does this open the door for a competing series?— Rich Walker (@ChooseFreeWill) October 25, 2023
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light have always been on the cutting edge of iconic sporting moments that fans remember forever, and reuniting with UFC is a continuation of this industry leading legacy. As one of the largest and longest standing sport sponsors, we are excited to work with UFC to celebrate our passionate fans while always making a positive impact in communities across America,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a press release.
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