Minnesota Brewing has signed a three-year, $225,000
sponsorship deal to promote Univ. of MN football, men's
basketball, and ice hockey, according to Tony Kennedy of the
Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The deal is the "largest campaign
of its kind" in the six-year history of Minnesota Brewing.
On Thursday, the brewery announced that it lost $2.3M in the
second quarter of '97, and new Minnesota Brewing President &
CEO Jack Lee said that this campaign "will be the marketing
centerpiece" of the new management's efforts "to stem
financial losses that have plagued the brewery since it
opened." Minnesota Brewing's Lee said that the independent
distributors of the Grain Belt beer brand made the deal
possible by "funding a matching deal to promote the brand on
telecasts by Midwest Sports Channel." For $75,000 a year
over three years, MSC will identify Grain Belt as a telecast
partner, and air two 30-second spots per Gopher telecast.
Univ. of MN Assist. Dir of Men's Athletics Pat Forciea said
that the MSC deal "was important" to Minnesota Brewing's bid
because the school is negotiating a new 10-year broadcasting
deal with MSC, under which the university will have to find
new advertisers for MSC (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 8/16).
A TEAR IN MILLER'S BEER? The new deal ends the school's
three-year partnership with Miller. Forciea said Miller
paid $55,000 a year and was not an advertiser on game
broadcasts. He added that the school "has always been
careful to affiliate in moderation" with breweries, and
noted that the school does not sell beer at Gophers games.
Forciea: "We try to be quite sensitive to the types of
things we do with the beer partner. You won't see us
throwing any pre-game beer parties in front of Williams
Arena" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 8/16).
