Beer Blast: NFL Teams Battle For The Beer Industry's Money

More than 20 NFL teams are "lobbying to take the beer category rights back from the league when national deals with Miller and Anheuser-Busch expire after this season," according industry sources cited by Hilary Cassidy of BRANDWEEK, who notes both Miller and A-B are official sponsors of the league and have individual team rights. The NFL recently renewed a deal with Motorola for $20M per year, but one beer distributor "estimated that value of local promotional rights for his category would be approximately $1.5[M] per team — a total of $48[M] — depending on the market." An NFL official "acknowledged various models are being explored but said no decision has been made" (BRANDWEEK, 1/28 issue).