Support, Expand, Encourage: Michelob Ultra $100M Commitment To Women’s Sports
Friday, August 27, 2021 at 02:39AM NYSJ Sports-Entertainment Business News Service
August 26, 2021: Anheuser-Busch brand Michelob Ultra said today it is committing $100 million over the next five years to increase visibility for women's sports.
Brand efforts include:
• Dedicating 50% of its lifestyle media inventory to content that features and promotes female athletes and women's sports by 2025.
• Representing female and male athletes equally in all advertising creative moving forward.
• Ensuring equal representation of female and male athletes on Team Ultra talent and influencer roster.”
“We need to set the example, and the time for equality has always been now,” Ricardo Marques, vp-marketing, Michelob Ultra, said via the brand.
“Our commitment demonstrates Michelob Ultra’s core belief that female athletes deserve an equal experience, whether they're on the court, in the newsroom or on our TV screens."
Michelob Ultra said this is the next step in its ongoing platform to support and promote women’s sports.
Among its activation, Michelob Ultra is the official beer sponsor of the WNBA “among other athletic organizations with strong female representation”; and has increase female representation on the Team Ultra talent and influencer roster by signing athletes including Serena Williams and Alex Morgan.
Supporting marketing includes multi-media marketing, anchored by a spot featuring WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, CeCe Telfer (the first openly transgender female athlete to win a NCAA title) and Andraya Carter (basketball analyst, reporter, former NCAA athlete).
"Michelob Ultra is proud to be a longtime partner of female athletes and organizations, and as a leader in both the beer and sports marketing industries, there's so much more we can do to help support equal pay when it comes to women's sports," said Marques.