✓ Molson Coors is all in on football, while also thinking about sports more holistically, focusing on the right sports to fit the right moments.
✓ The sports plans start with football, where among a suite of activations, Miller Lite and Coors Light plan to show up all season long on Thursday Night Football.
✓ The plans extend to key brands in key moments, including Monaco and UFC, Blue Moon and golf, Keystone Light and motorsports, and more.
LAS VEGAS – Football and beer. Enough said. Right?
Beer and football go together like ... beer and cheese, or beer and chicken wings, or beer and pizza (our analogies usually center around beer here).
And at this year’s distributor conference, Molson Coors made it clear that it is, indeed, all in on football ... but it’s also thinking about sports occasions more holistically, focusing in on the right sports that people care about and then strategically plugging in the right brands to fit those unique moments.
"We need to be smart on where we reach consumers," Chief Marketing Officer Sofia Colucci said from the stage at the Molson Coors Distributor Convention. "So we are investing in the right properties, from the right live television to winning in social.”
This includes live sports. In addition to major sports like football and basketball, Molson Coors is also activating across a wide variety of sports across brands, with live sports accounting for the majority of the company’s U.S. TV spend in 2027.
More Touchdowns with Football
Of course, that does start with football. For the first time, Miller Lite and Coors Light plan to show up all season long on Thursday Night Football, in addition to showing up on Sundays throughout the season, building on the brands' suite of national media, alliance partnerships and activations at pro and college level games throughout the season.
That suite of activations is also bolstered by a more local approach, where fans across the country can expect to see packaging and offerings that are closer to the heart of their fandom – like new Indiana packaging that features the school’s stripes, and point-of-sale that leverages their National Championship logo.
And with Coors Light continuing its ESPN College Game Day and Cheez-Itz collab into 2027, Miller Lite will complement with continued media pressure with new spots featuring Christopher Walken, along with an exclusive beer sponsorship with ESPN fantasy football and custom DraftKings contests.
The Knockout Punch: Monaco and UFC
Arguably the strongest example of Molson Coors making big bets in new sports is Monaco and UFC.
When Molson Coors acquired Monaco earlier this year, it did more than just add a strong player in the RTD space to the portfolio, it also unlocked access to a high-impact audience.
Monaco is the official canned cocktail of UFC and has been a partner since 2022, providing tremendous scale toward a new group of legal-aged drinkers for Molson Coors. The partnership will help accelerate the growth of Monaco in 2027, with the alignment, cultural relevance and the way the brand shows up, all driving impact.
"We're turning this partnership into a total knockout," said Bill Averill, VP of Sales Marketing Activation. "What we have isn't just a sponsorship, it's a platform to increase cultural relevance and drive consideration with fans at the national and local level."
Nationally, Monaco is catching shoppers’ eyes with UFC logos on packaging and point of sale, keeping the spotlight on the brand with UFC fans on social, and keeping Monaco front and center on fight night with highly-viewed logo placements in the Octagon during events. Locally, teams will surround events with sponsored watch parties.
Through strong activations with Monaco and UFC, Molson Coors is not only diversifying which sports it’s playing in, it’s choosing sports that are tied to the essence of its brands.
Racing, Premium Sports, and More
Speaking of pairing the right sports with the right brands, it’s fair to say Molson Coors’ entire portfolio is stepping up across a bevy of sports moments.
For Peroni, that means the continuation of its on-track Italian racing partnership, with the premium moment meeting the premium beverage experience. For Keystone Light, it means re-engaging motorsports fans with a Team Penske partnership. For Banquet, it’s continuing to champion the spirit of the American West at rodeos. For Blue Moon, a brand people love after a day on the golf course, it’s taking to the links to partner with a well-known golfer. And for Fever-Tree, it means showing up in premium sports whether it’s tennis, golf and more.
It all ladders into Molson Coors targeting the right occasions with the right brands.
Because, yes, it's football and beer.
But it's also Monaco and UFC events. It's Blue Moon and rounds of golf. It's Fever-Tree and tennis. It's Keystone Light in motorsports.
As consumers broaden what they watch and what they care about, Molson Coors is broadening where it plays, with brands that makes sense.
It's Molson Coors and sports. All of them.