While Anheuser-Busch is considered an American company, it is now being acquired by inBev and will be part of a strong global conglomerate. Is this good or bad news for sports? My take is that it is bad news. The more competition the better for sports since companies will compete against each other for the best properties and to buy the best opportunities. While the beverage competition will decrease, the word on the street is that InBev will try to make its money through reducing costs and watching every penny. That can signal a major disaster for sports in the US. According to a USA Today article A-B spent $218 million on sport advertising in 2007 and an additional $300 million on sport sponsorship. When you add the total impact of A-B it is more than 1/2 a billion dollars. If that budget is cut in half over the next couple years (combined with a down economy), the entire sport industry could be left searching for another sugar daddy.
Gil-
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