Anheuser-Busch has announced a partnership with UFC as the embattled beer company tries to fight back following Dylan Mulvaney’s backlash.
Bud Light has now become the official beer sponsor of the UFC with a six-year marketing partnership, the companies announced.
This is according to a source familiar with the deal CNBC that the sponsorship deal goes “well into nine figures,” and is the largest in the history of the mixed martial arts promotion.
With this deal, the brewer restores ties with an organization that is perceived as more conservative than many other sports after a tumultuous year.
In April, the company partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a move that proved catastrophic for the brand.
Dana White, pictured here, hosts the UFC 294 press conference at Etihad Arena on October 19, 2023 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mulvaney teamed up with Bud Light in April as part of their March Madness campaign and was gifted a can of light beer with her face on it – sparking outrage
Mulvaney shared photos of herself holding a personalized can to celebrate her one-year transition, and posing with cans of beer in a bathtub.
The brand was accused of meddling in one of the most pressing culture war issues out there.
The partnership angered conservative drinkers who quickly boycotted the brand, but also infuriated liberals who said the company failed to respond in solidarity with Mulvaney.
After the disastrous collaboration with Mulvaney, the former best-selling beer has been surpassed by brands such as Modelo and Coors.
Recent data from last month shows Bud Light had an 8.9 percent share of the beer market, up from 12 percent just before the partnership.
Sales are down approximately 30 percent in both volume and dollar value compared to the same period last year.
In the week following the campaign’s launch on April 1, Bud Light’s dollar sales fell 6 percent, while Coors Light rose 3.5 percent and Miller Lite rose 3.1 percent.
Several famous faces condemned the brand for the move, including Kid Rock who fired a machine gun at the beer cans and said, “F*** Bud Light, and f*** Anheuser-Busch.”
The brand was accused of meddling in one of the most pressing culture war issues out there. Magomed Ankalaev, left, fights Johnny Walker at light heavyweight on October 21
After the move, the former best-selling beer has been surpassed by brands such as Modelo and Coors. Khamzat Chimaev, top, fights Kamaru Usman on October 21 in Abu Dhabi
In the turmoil that followed the partnership announcement, Anheuser-Busch released a statement supporting the brand’s decision to partner with Mulvaney.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Michael Doukaris also tried to downplay the Mulvaney campaign.
Doukeris said: “We need to clarify the facts that this was one camp, one influencer, one post and not a campaign.”
Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher told us Fox last month that Bud Light’s dropped sales indicate “quasi-permanent” damage to the brand and that longtime consumers are “simply lost forever.”
In a poll last summer, YouGov found that the beer had dropped from the list of the country’s top ten favorite beers.
Although the share of Americans who “liked” Bud Light had not changed, the popularity of other rival beers soared, pushing it to 15th place.
They found that Guinness, Corona and Heineken were the three most liked beers of 2023, with approval from 58 percent, 53 percent and 51 percent of Americans, respectively.
UFC president DanaWhite has donated at least $1 million to a political action committee that supported former President Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
In July of this year, former President Trump electrified the Las Vegas crowd when he attended UFC 290 with White.
Former President Donald Trump and UFC President Dana White attend the UFC 290 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 8, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada
In a new YouGov poll, which asked 1,468 people, public approval of the beer fell so much that it dropped out of the top ten, landing in 15th place.
Over the summer, the company also launched a new advertising campaign to bring Bud Light back to the “beer of easy enjoyment.”
‘Take a cold look: we have an epic summer ahead of us. Including sock tan,” the company wrote on Twitter — its first tweet since April 14, just weeks after Mulvaney’s outburst.
The ad shows customers using beer cans to cool off in the summer heat while quickly pulling a cooler full of Bud Light behind them.
The company announced the campaign on their social media following the backlash from the Mulvaney partnership
In a statement announcing the partnership, UFC CEO Dana White said: “Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were the original beer sponsors of UFC more than fifteen years ago. I am proud to announce that we are working together again.
“There are many reasons why I chose Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, primarily because I feel like we are very aligned when it comes to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for.
“I look forward to all the great things we will do in the coming years.”
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said, “Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light have always been at the forefront of iconic sports moments that fans will remember forever, and reuniting with UFC continues this industry-leading legacy.”