How Athletic Brewing is expanding its NFL presence at MetLife

Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night NFL games present a difficult choice for many football fans. On one hand, a good tailgate or game-day experience might feel incomplete without a beer or two. On the other hand, typical workdays loom following those nights, making the consequences of overindulgence all the more painful

There’s no shortage of other reasons why fans might prefer a zero-proof option on game days. With its new sponsorship deal with MetLife Stadium, the New York Giants, and the New York Jets, the non-alcoholic beer brand Athletic Brewing is hoping to become the go-to for football fans driving home, heading into a busy workday, or simply seeking an alternative to alcohol at a game.

The multi-year deal, which kicks off this football season, represents a significant expansion of Athletic Brewing’s sports partnership roster, as it is the brand’s first formal NFL team sponsorship with assets beyond supplying cans to stadiums.

Athletic Brewing execs are hoping the agreement is representative of something even bigger. Bill Shufelt, Athletic Brewing’s co-founder and CEO, told Marketing Brew the deal “marks that transition to non-alcoholic beer really becoming mainstream.”

(Met)Life of the party

MetLife was one of the first venues to serve Athletic Brewing dating back to 2019, Shufelt said, and since then, the brand has had “small, organic distribution in the stadium.” Until now, however, he said the company hadn’t been ready for any kind of bigger marketing or distribution deal.

In recent years, Athletic Brewing has become the top-selling family of non-alcoholic beers in the US, according to Forbes, increasingly competing with beer heavyweights like AB InBev in the NA category. The brand has about a 27% market share in New York State, as well as a 34% share across New York City, Shufelt told us. In Connecticut, a state that also claims Jets and Giants fandoms, that share is about 38%, making it a “natural time” to partner with teams in the tri-state area, he said.

In addition to bringing Athletic Brewing’s Run Wild IPA and Upside Dawn Golden cans to multiple locations throughout MetLife, the brand will show up in the stadium via signage, sampling, and experiences like contests and tailgates, Shufelt said. The deal also includes opportunities to integrate into Jets and Giants content, training camps, and community events, according to Athletic Brewing.

The partnership is largely an awareness play, Shufelt told us, and it hinges on qualitative goals like “bringing enjoyment to fans” looking for a more “flexible…game-day experience” when it comes to drinking. His team will also track growth in consumption at MetLife and in surrounding areas, he said.

“Very often, you see the same brands at nearly every stadium in the country, and we’re very excited about being able to reach fans and invest in their teams with marketing for broader awareness, spreading that out to retail and well beyond the stadium as well,” Shufelt said.

Un-can-ny

Though Athletic Brewing is served in hundreds of venues through relationships with teams across the NFL, MLB, MiLB, MLS, and NWSL, the new stadium sponsorship marks a new frontier for the brand.

Athletic Brewing’s sponsorship roots are primarily in individual athlete-centric running and endurance sports like Ironman races, and while the brand also has a partnership with Arsenal FC, this is the first time it’s tying up with NFL teams in a 360 marketing capacity, Shufelt said.

The brewer enters a crowded, competitive market for beer and beverage brands in football, but Shufelt said he’s not necessarily trying to steal fans from alcohol brands. With many Americans shifting away from alcohol in favor of healthier options, there may already be a contingent of consumers at stadiums looking for an alternative.

“Alcohol makes a lot of sense for a lot of people, and we’re certainly not trying to take that away,” he said. “But with the games being on very often Sundays and Mondays, and being family-friendly occasions, we just see an opportunity to bring a lot more people into the tent.”