Earlier this week, the folks at Anheuser-Busch huffed and puffed about their relationship with NFL, but could they have blown the NFL’s official beer sponsorship down?
Apparently, yes.
According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, the hops masters could have jumped, based on the language of the company’s contract with the league. Per the report, Anheuser-Busch has the ability to walk away if a “league-wide” incident “brings the entire NFL, not just particular member clubs, players, coaches or employees, into national disrepute, scandal or ridicule.”
So Anheuser-Busch could have pulled the plug. The real question is would it? And the smart answer is, “No way in hell.”
For starters, another beer company would have rushed to the front of the line for the privilege attaching The Shield to its product, because even if the board-room billionaires feel compelled to wag a finger at the league, Joe S. Pack and his beer-buying peers aren’t turning their backs on the NFL or anyone who does business with it. If being the official beer of the NFL didn’t carry with it hundreds of millions in value, hundreds of millions wouldn’t be changing hands.
But then there’s the access for the individuals who move the millions. Super Bowl trips every year, rubbing elbows in luxury suites with celebrities and entertainers, and surely plenty of swag. For the people who divvy up the advertising dollars, that’s a huge part of the game -- and only the NFL can deliver the opportunity to attend pro football games in far more exciting and creative ways that sitting in a plastic chair, out in the elements.
While recent events justify serious questions about the current direction and leadership of the sport, Anheuser-Busch knows that dumping the NFL would be the equivalent of yanking the Clydesdale away from the pond into which it has currently buried its head.
