Coors Light is sponsoring the San Diego Chargers, replacing Miller Brewing as the team’s second beer sponsor. As part of the deal, which is scheduled to be announced today, Coors will appear in the backdrop of all team press conferences and have team logo rights in the San Diego area.
San Diego is the first team Coors has signed since renewing its national sponsorship with the NFL last September in a five-year, $500 million contract. Some of that money was dedicated to signing more teams, which can have multiple beer sponsors.
Anheuser-Busch dominates the NFL team sponsor area with 28, compared with six for Coors, the nation’s No. 3 brewer. Anheuser-Busch this month renewed its deal with the Chargers, retaining exclusive in-stadium signs.
Coors, a division of Molson Coors, is committed under its national deal to sponsor nearly a dozen local clubs, a source said. Calls to Coors were not returned.
Chargers chief marketing officer Ken Derrett said a local Coors distributor, Crest Beverage, had been keen for some time to have the beermaker become a sponsor of the team, indicating that a significant amount of promotion is planned around the sponsorship.
“Coors is going to be very active and aggressive from the activation point of view,” Derrett said, adding that the plans are still being discussed.
Coors replaces team sponsor Motorola on the press conference backdrop. Discussions to renew with Motorola are continuing, Derrett said.
Derrett declined to provide terms, though beer sponsorships generally run from the mid to high six figures annually, to the low seven figures.
