The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has announced a multiyear partnership with Anheuser-Busch, making Bud Light its official beer once again.
This alliance comes on the heels of months of controversy and backlash surrounding the embattled beer brand, which reached its zenith earlier this year.
The world’s premier mixed martial arts organization revealed its collaboration with the beer giant on Tuesday, indicating that Bud Light will play a prominent role in UFC’s broadcasts and online content starting from the year 2024.
UFC CEO Dana White expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “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. 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 CEO Brendan Whitworth also chimed in, saying, “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.”
Beer partner
Anheuser-Busch will be replacing Modelo as the UFC’s official beer partner, signaling a new era for the organization.
Dana White, during an appearance on “The Sean Hannity Show,” emphasized that his decision to partner with Anheuser-Busch was not driven by monetary considerations. He stated, “These guys employ 65,000 Americans, thousands of vets they employ. They spend over $700 million a year with US farmers, you know, buying their crops for their product. And there’s many, many other reasons that I did this. 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.”
The controversy that has engulfed Bud Light stems from a partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney for an Instagram ad about March Madness last spring. This collaboration triggered a significant decline in sales for several months. Anheuser-Busch blamed a third-party marketer for sending the transgender influencer a can of Bud Light featuring an image of Mulvaney, which she promoted to her millions of social media followers on April 1.
