Tee It Up: A-B InBev's New Deal With PGA Tour Includes Custom Michelob Ultra Cans

A-B InBev has signed a new four-year deal with the PGA Tour that "for the first time will include customized Michelob Ultra cans bearing the tour’s logo to be sold at retail," according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Specific financial terms of the renewal were not disclosed, but the "seven-figure annual agreement calls for the Michelob Ultra brand to be the exclusive beer of the tour, with increased activation at the tournament level to include the addition of five new Ultra Club hospitality venues at still-to-be-determined events each year." Last year, the Ultra Club hospitality venue was "limited to The Players Championship." A-B also will "activate around 45 various PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Web.com Tour events, including an expansion of its 'Build-a-Bar' general concessions program that features a 40-foot Ultra branded bar at select events." A-B is the PGA Tour's "longest-standing sponsor," having been a partner since '94. WME-IMG is A-B’s agency of record, but the deal was "negotiated directly between the company and the tour." Other traditional sponsorship elements "including a tour-wide media buy are included in the deal." A-B's O’Doul's brand will "continue as the official non-alcohol brew of the tour, but it’s the Ultra brand’s retail activation that represents a new focus among the tour renewal" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/17 issue).