By Jordan Kobritz
Lost amid the excitement of September pennant races and the tabloid coverage of which NBA players slept with their teammate’s girlfriend, was an announcement that AB InBev (ABI), makers of Budweiser and other brands, had signed agreements to feature active MLB and NBA players in beer ads.
The marketing deals were technically between the brewer and the players’ unions, the MLBPA and NBPA, not directly with the leagues. However, ABI needed league approval to combine team names, uniforms and logos with player names and imagery in advertising. The agreements mark the first time in sixty years active players will be compensated for promoting beer.
The significance of the new agreements may surprise most fans as players have regularly promoted beer on behalf of their teams. One example occurred earlier this year when Milwaukee Brewers relievers Josh Hader and Taylor Williams visited Miller Brewery to formulate their own signature beer. They were participating in a Brewers promotion pitting them against two of the team’s television broadcasters to determine who produced the best beer. The promotion seems to be contrary to MLB’s official position that “it does not permit active players to be involved in the advertising or promotion of alcohol-related products.” What they really mean is players can promote beer if it makes money for their team, but not for themselves.
Beer and baseball have had a symbiotic relationship since the inception of the sport. Teams and leagues have never been reluctant to seek and accept sponsorships from brewers. Breweries, recognizing the name recognition and marketing value of associating with the National Pastime, have also combined sponsorship with team ownership. Beverage companies that have owned teams include Anheuser-Busch, owner of the St. Louis Cardinals; Jacob Ruppert Brewing Company, makers of Knickerbocker beer, owned the Yankees; National Bohemian Brewery purchased the St. Louis Browns from Bill Veeck and moved the team to Baltimore where they became the Orioles; and Labatt Brewing Company, original owners of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Breweries have regularly used athletes from individual sports, including golfers Annika Sorenstam and Sergio Garcia along with former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., in responsible drinking campaigns. But since the ‘50s, brewers, in concert with sports leagues, have adhered to the Beer Institute’s Advertising & Marketing Code and voluntarily banned any advertising that included active team players.
The public reason given for prohibiting active players from shilling for alcohol interests has always centered on the message it sends to young people. But in the internet age, such concerns are baseless. Teams also accept money from gambling interests while prohibiting active players from doing likewise. Is that restriction also about to be loosened now that sports betting is legal in the U.S?
The agreement with the NBPA may be more valuable to ABI than the one with MLB players, given the higher public profile of NBA players such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
Whether you agree or disagree with the new world order, at least the players will finally receive a share of the bounty they help produce.
Jordan Kobritz is a non-practicing attorney and CPA, former Minor League Baseball team owner and current investor in MiLB teams. He is a professor in the Sport Management Department at SUNY Cortland and maintains the blog, sportsbeyondthelines.com. The opinions contained in this column are the author’s. Kobritz can be reached by email at jordan.kobritz@cortland.edu.
