MILLERCOORS, the American-based arm of the joint venture between brewers MolsonCoors and SABMiller, has begun legal proceedings against the New England Patriots National Football League (NFL) franchise.
MillerCoors claims the Patriots reneged on an exclusive seven-year official beer sponsorship agreement to run through 2019 in favour of a deal on more lucrative terms with Anheuser-Busch InBev, parent company of Budweiser.
The current sponsorship deal between MillerCoors and the Partriots is set to expire in February, but MillerCoors is keen to continue its 10-year association with the Boston-based franchise.
"We expect to win and when we win we will be a great partner to the Patriots," said Jackie Woodward, vice president of media and marketing services for MillerCoors. "We look forward to bringing our marketing muscle and activation prowess to bringing football to fans in New England."
A ruling in favour of MIllerCoors is all the more pressing for the Group since the Anheuser-Busch-owned Bud Light brand recently dislodged Coors Light as the official beer of the NFL from the 2011 season in a deal worth $1.2 billion over the next six years.
NFL regulations also allow teams to negotiate individual beer deals alongside the overarching Anheuser Busch agreement. According to CNBC.com Anheuser-Busch InBev has deals with 28 of 32 teams. Only the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have exclusive deals with MillerCoors. MillerCoors, however, has the rights to 17 teams on a non-exclusive basis, CNBC said.
The impending case between MillerCoors and the Patriots is of a similar nature to that between MolsonCoors and Labatt’s earlier this year, in which the former defeated the latter to sponsor the National Hockey League (NHL) in a seven-year deal worth $375m.