Molson Coors Beverage is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in over 30 years.

Anheuser-Busch InBev announced in June that it would not renew its exclusivity deal for Super Bowl LVII, clearing the path for other alcohol brands to advertise during the Big Game for the first time in 33 years. 

Molson Coors is planning to run one 30-second spot, which went for around $5.6 million in this year’s game. In 2021, the company recorded annual sales growth for the first time in more than 10 years. 

Next year will be the company’s first Super Bowl ad since it changed its name from Molson Coors Brewing and added hard seltzer, whiskey, and energy drinks to its product lineup. It hasn’t been completely absent from the Super Bowl, however. 

• This year, Miller Lite hosted a bar in the metaverse for the game.
• Last year, it ran an “ad” on YouTube to protest being shut out of the game.

Molson Coors already made NFL headlines Wednesday in a campaign featuring Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. NFL players aren’t allowed to directly promote alcohol, so Coors advertised a flashlight called “The Coors Light.”

Super Bowl Beverages

After renewing its league deal for $250 million annually, AB InBev will continue to run Super Bowl ads. Diageo, which purchased the NFL’s hard alcohol rights for a reported $30 million per year in 2021, and E. & J. Gallo, the league’s official wine sponsor, will also get a chance to run ads.

Apple has emerged as the leading bidder to secure media rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket, according to a report by Puck. 

Sunday Ticket, which has been on DirecTV since 1994 and allows subscribers to watch every NFL game on Sundays regardless of their home market, has been a coveted package by companies including Amazon and Disney. 

• The NFL is seeking up to $3 billion annually for rights.
• DirecTV’s current deal, which ends after 2022, is worth $1.5 billion for the 2022 season.
• A deal for Sunday Ticket could also include satellite rights for subscribers in rural areas.
• An additional caveat to a potential pact is Sunday Ticket’s availability in restaurants and bars. 

Not only is the NFL looking to find a new rights holder for Sunday Ticket, but America’s most popular professional sports league is also looking to bundle the package with a stake in NFL Media — which includes NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL.com. 

Strong Start 

Sunday Ticket would bolster Apple’s portfolio of live sports offerings after its first foray into the business in March, when the tech giant secured media rights to stream MLB in a deal worth $85 million annually.

Last month, Apple made another investment in live sports after it agreed to a deal worth at least $2.5 billion to stream MLS matches that also includes MLS Next Pro and MLS Next games.

Liverpool FC is renewing its shirt sponsorship pact with British bank Standard Chartered in a deal worth more than $236.8 million or $59.2 million annually, according to The Times. 

Standard Chartered first secured shirt sponsorship rights to Liverpool in 2010, taking over for Danish brewery group Carlsberg. The bank’s current deal with the Premier League club — worth an estimated $24 million per year — ends at the end of the 2022-23 season.  

• The four-season renewal will run through the end of the 2026-27 season.
• It will mark a 17-year relationship between Liverpool and Standard Chartered.
• Standard Chartered is only the fifth company to land Liverpool shirt sponsorship rights.
• The deal also includes rights to the club’s women’s team. 

Standard Chartered competed with companies in finance, crypto, media, and travel for sponsorship rights to Liverpool — the fourth-most valuable soccer club in the world at $4.5 billion.

Liverpool, which has the best-selling shirt in all of soccer, projects shirt sales to surpass 2 million for the first time this season. 

Not Alone 

Owned by Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool joins several European soccer clubs with new shirt deals. 

In June, Paris Saint-Germain secured a deal with Qatar Airways worth as much as $72 million per year. The same month, AC Milan extended its pact with Puma for $31.5 million over five years.

On Tuesday, Atlético Madrid confirmed a multiyear pact with cryptocurrency exchange platform WhaleFin worth $42.3 million annually, per 2Playbook.