The Anheuser-Busch brewery has extended and expanded its long-term partnership with the North American National Basketball Association (NBA) to include the USA Basketball governing body for the first time.
The renewal will run for four years, from 2016-17 to 2019-20. The partnership began in 1998.
Anheuser-Busch will continue as the official beer partner of the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association and NBA Development League. As part of the agreement, Anheuser-Busch will expand its partnership to include USA Basketball and the league’s Hispanic marketing initiative, Noches éne•bé•a.
Under the deal, Anheuser-Busch and the league will work together to produce an original digital content media series. These videos will appear on NBA-owned properties and will be shared on Anheuser-Busch-owned properties, starting this season.
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. The brewery’s brands such as Budweiser and Bud Light will be pushed during activations surrounding events such as the NBA and Women’s NBA all-star games, play-offs, finals and draft.
“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 of 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.”
Emilio Collins, the NBA’s executive vice-president of global marketing partnerships, added: “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."