As a sponsor of Team USA since the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, Michelob Ultra\u2019s approach to the Games spans multiple sports and athletes. But ahead of the Games in Italy next month, the beer brand is lacing up its ice skates as it prepares to throw its might behind hockey.<\/p>\n
To put it simply, the sport is \u201ca natural place for us,\u201d SVP of marketing Ricardo Marques told Marketing Brew: Michelob Ultra is now a sponsor of USA Hockey, and has relationships with teams like the Boston Bruins, while fellow AB InBev brand Bud Light is the official beer of the NHL. Plus, hockey\u2019s star has been on the rise, Marques said, pointing to the ratings success of last year\u2019s 4 Nations tournament. Beyond that, there is some evidence of a potential Heated Rivalry<\/em> effect on NHL fandom.<\/p>\n With the Winter Games set to feature NHL players for the first time since 2014, Michelob Ultra is planning for a hockey miracle, as well as some additional activations, to boost its sales, market share, and overall association with Team USA in the run-up to LA28.<\/p>\n To leverage its partnership with Team USA and spark excitement for Milano Cortina, Michelob Ultra is first hosting a fan event based on the Miracle on Ice game from the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, when a young US men\u2019s team upset the four-time defending gold medalist team from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n The event, set for Jan. 15 at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, is meant to re-create the game, complete with holograms, projections on the ice, items from the hockey archive, previously unseen footage, and appearances from legends like 1980 Olympic goaltender Jim Craig.<\/p>\nMichelob on ice<\/h2>\n