MillerCoors CMO Says Timing Right For Coors Light To Exit As Official NFL Beer

Coors Light “will lose one asset this year that arguably helped its ascent -- its deal with the NFL as the league's official beer sponsor,” according to E.J. Schultz of AD AGE. The league last May signed a six-year deal with A-B InBev for Bud Light to become its official beer. MillerCoors Exec VP & CMO Andy England said, "It was a good deal for us. We were paying an appropriate price.” But he added that the “timing was right for an exit." He noted that when Coors Light "first struck the deal in 2001, it was before the 2008 merger that created MillerCoors, bringing Miller Lite and Coors Light under one roof.” England emphasized that MillerCoors “still has individual sponsorship deals with 21 of the 32 NFL teams.” He added MillerCoors "will still be all over NFL broadcasts." England: "We have deep relationships with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, all of that" (AD AGE, 3/28 issue).