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Later, Bud: A-B InBev Becomes Latest Sponsor To End USOC Partnership

A-B InBev has ended its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Team, becoming the latest in a string of high-profile partners to not renew with the USOC heading into a complicated Olympics cycle. The brewer’s Budweiser brand has been the first and only official beer of Team USA since ‘84. The ‘16 Rio Games marked the end of a four-year deal worth a reported $13M. The malt beverage category is now open with the USOC, along with hotels, banks and online brokerages following TD Ameritrade’s departure. "We continually evaluate our sponsorships as our business priorities evolve and we’re adjusting our portfolio to reflect those priorities,” said A-B InBev VP/Experiential Marketing Eelco van der Noll. Budweiser last year used its domestic Olympic sponsorship rights to boost its summertime campaign to rebrand its beer as “America.” It signed deals with six U.S. athletes and sponsored two bars at the USA House in Rio. It also ran Olympic-themed ads for “America." The beer’s embrace of the Olympics peaked in the mid to late-2000s, when it had deals with more than 30 national Olympic teams, as well as the ’06 Turin and ’08 Beijing host committees. It ran Club Bud party pavilions in Turin, Beijing, Vancouver (’10) and London (’12). WME-IMG is its sports marketing agency. Budweiser joins Hilton, Citi, TD Ameritrade and AT&T as USOC sponsors in not renewing its sponsorship after Rio, though AT&T was replaced by Comcast in short order. (BMW was involuntarily supplanted by Toyota’s worldwide auto deal that went into effect Jan. 1.) USOC Senior VP/Marketing Mitch Poll did not specifically address Budweiser in a prepared statement, but said the team is looking forward to working with new sponsors. New to the winter Olympic cycle are previously announced Bridgestone, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hershey Co., MilkPEP, Mondelez and Toyota.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY: The USOC is facing headwinds going into a period in which three consecutive Olympics will be held in east Asia, scaring some sponsors worried about maintaining fan engagement during far-flung Games. Also, L.A.’s bid for the ‘24 Games injects a great deal of uncertainty into future planning. In a media conference last month, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun acknowledged some losses to the portfolio but struck an upbeat tone. He said, "We do have a handful of categories that we need to fill because of decisions by some sponsors not to renew, but the truth is, both the [IOC’s The Olympic Partner] program and the domestic program are healthy. I think [CMO] Lisa Baird and her team are doing a fantastic job. We look at the landscape and feel fairly confident we’re going to have a significant increase in our overall sponsorship revenue from the 2016 quad to the 2020 quad."

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