MillerCoors LLC has filed a lawsuit claiming the Patriots "reneged on an exclusive sponsorship contract to 'pursue a more lucrative exclusive agreement'" with Anheuser-Busch InBev. MillerCoors spokesperson Pete Marino said in a statement: "We negotiated in good faith with the New England Patriots for several months, at their invitation, to become their exclusive and official beer partner after several years of a shared deal. Regrettably the team has now reneged on the deal that was reached, and we are left with no choice but to take legal action." MillerCoors has been an official beer sponsor of the Patriots for almost 10 years and the current sponsorship deal expires at season's end. Patriots attorney Dan Goldberg said via e-mail: "I have not seen any complaint or official filing yet, so I wouldn't be comfortable offering my comment" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/27).
CNBC’s Darren Rovell said MillerCoors and the Patriots had “this deal all signed and ready to go and now they believe that they will sign an exclusive deal with Anheuser-Busch.” Rovell: “The Patriots are tremendously valuable in this war between America's No. 1 and No. 2 brewers” (“Fast Money,” CNBC, 9/26).
