THE GIST
Two of the largest U.S. craft breweries, California’s Sierra Nevada and Colorado’s New Belgium, have this week unveiled partnerships with local sports teams. Sierra Nevada has entered into a 10-year partnership with the Sacramento Kings, at their soon-to-open Golden 1 Stadium. The venue will incorporate a Sierra Nevada "draught house" as part of the deal—the aim being to bring a taproom experience to the heart of the sports arena.
New Belgium will donate $4.3 million to Colorado State University toward the construction of a new on-campus stadium. Part of this deal includes the construction of a pitch-side bar, which will be called the New Belgium Porch. The focus of this project being to create unique beer and college football experience for fans and visitors to the new home of the CSU Rams.
WHY IT MATTERS
There was a time when the lucrative world of sports advertising and sponsorship was reserved for the world’s biggest brewers. These moves by Sierra Nevada and New Belgium aren’t as much a demonstration of how craft is moving into this advertising sector, but more an indicator of exactly how large and influential the major players in the craft beer sector have become.
Beer fans should be pleased at moves like these, though, since a wider variety of beer styles will be available at locations previously dominated by homogenous light Lagers.
Sierra Nevada has not disclosed how much their investment in the Kings’ new stadium is, but fans of the NBA team look to be getting an exceptional taproom that should only serve to enhance the game day experience.
For New Belgium, the deal is a much more personal one. The CSU campus is only two miles from the brewery, and many employees are former CSU alumni themselves. The CSU Fermentation Science Department even stores a collection of the brewery’s house yeast strains.
—Matthew Curtis
READ MORE
Sierra Nevada Brewing and Sacramento Kings NBA team announce Golden 1 Center deal [Beerpulse]
New Belgium Pays $4.3 Million to Help Build, Name New Stadium Bar [Brewbound]