OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:11 AM – Wednesday, October 25, 2023
The UFC has signed a more than $100 million deal with Bud Light, making it the official beer of the mixed martial arts corporation.
On Tuesday, UFC CEO Dana White released a statement announcing the partnership between them and Anheuser-Busch. Sources told the press that this is the largest sponsorship deal in UFC history.Â
“Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC’s original beer sponsors more than fifteen years ago,” White said. “I’m proud to announce we are back in business together. 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.”
The multi-year deal, which begins on January 1st, 2024, follows the UFC’s merger with the WWE last month under parent firm Endeavor to form the new publicly traded entity TKO.Â
For many years, the UFC and Anheuser-Busch were partners until 2017, when the UFC partnered with Modelo.
White told the press that his decision to collaborate with Anheuser-Busch was “completely unrelated to money.”
He also touched on the backlash Bud Light has previously received and said fans “might not love” every business decision that is made by either UFC or Anheuser-Busch, but insisted “it wasn’t a tough decision at all,” and that the decision is “more about core values to me than anything else.”Â
Bud Light has previously faced backlash last spring when it collaborated with transgender creator Dylan Mulvaney on an Instagram ad about March Madness, resulting in dropping sales for many months and being replaced as the Number one beer with Modelo taking the spot.
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