A-B InBev is hoping to "build more buzz around its flagship Budweiser brand" by creating "Bud United presents: The Big Time," a seven-week reality show that will debut Saturday, Jan. 21 on ABC, according to Mike Esterl of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The show will feature "amateurs competing in sports, such as baseball, soccer and stock-car racing, as well as other fields, including music and cooking." One episode has the contestants visiting Citi Field and getting tips from former MLBer Frank Viola. None of the contestants "will be shown drinking beer on the show, adhering to an ABC policy restricting on-camera alcohol consumption." However, some cast members at the end of the shows "will hold Budweisers aloft in celebration." Bud signs and logos "at event sites and on contestants' clothing also are kept at a minimum." ESPN "brokered the broadcast-TV deal" with A-B InBev (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/12). Other sports celebrities making an appearance on the show include NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick, NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, U.S. women's national soccer team F Alex Morgan and former MLB pitching coach Tom House (THE DAILY).
