Food

Food and Beverage: A Sponsorship Powerhouse

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Food and sports are like the perfect celebrity couple, especially in the world of sponsorship. According to Statista, the global sports sponsorship market is expected to reach $100 billion this year, with food and beverage brands like PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch, and Papa John’s leading the charge. As a former athlete and industry executive, I’ve seen how these partnerships create emotional connections with fans, driving brand loyalty and sales. The partnership activations are continuously getting more creative and innovative as partnership professionals on both the brand side and club side elevate their game.

Take Coca-Cola’s NASCAR sponsorship or Pizza Hut’s NCAA deals—these are strategic moves that place brands in front of passionate audiences. During NFL games, beer sales spike thanks to in-game promotions, like branded fan zones or halftime giveaways. Whether we’re on the field, in the stands or watching on TV, we see fans proudly holding branded cups, a testament to the power of these partnerships. These sponsorships go beyond logos though; they create experiences, like Pepsi’s fan lounges at stadiums, where attendees enjoy branded food and drinks, forging lasting memories.

Economically, sponsorships are a win-win. Brands gain exposure, while sports organizations secure funding for operations and fan engagement initiatives. In 2024, food and beverage sponsorships accounted for a significant portion of the $27 billion U.S. sponsorship market [Statista]. These deals often include experiential components, like exclusive events or branded concessions, which enhance the fan experience and further drive sales. For instance, Anheuser-Busch’s NFL partnerships include tailgate activations that boost brand visibility and consumer engagement which I’ll talk more about in the upcoming article about the economics of tailgating.

The partnership impact also extends beyond immediate sales. Sponsorships shape consumer behavior, encouraging fans to choose branded products outside the stadium. These partnerships create a culture of loyalty, inspiring fans to become brand loyal. In a world with endless choices, supporting the brands that support your team works on multiple levels. Digital platforms are amplifying this impact, with social media campaigns and influencer partnerships extending brand reach. When a brand and club seamlessly collaborate to provide an experience and add value to fans, the brand, the club and the fans all win. And as the legend Herm Edwards believed, that’s why we play the partnership game.

There are naysayers when it comes to writing the check for these sponsorships though. The cost of sponsorships almost always raises questions about ROI, and rightfully so. They are expensive. Some argue that brands could achieve similar results through other marketing channels, but the unique emotional connection of sports sponsorships is hard to replicate. It is also why it is important to ensure you have the right plan and people negotiate and activate your partnership. Looking to 2025, I expect food brands to deepen their integration into the sports experience, leveraging technology like AR activations or personalized promotions to engage fans. These partnerships will continue to drive economic growth, blending commerce with the passion of sports fandom.

Nothing Brings Us Together Like Food and Sports

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In a world where politics and societal differences often pull us apart, there’s a simple truth I’ve seen proven time and again in my 20+ years of working with sports, agriculture, and food brands: nothing brings us together like food and sports. These two forces have an unmatched ability to bridge divides, elicit joy, and create shared moments that transcend our differences. Drawing from my experience crafting campaigns for global brands and advising startups, I’ve witnessed how food and sports unite communities in ways few other things can.

The Universal Language of Food and Sports

Food and sports are more than pastimes—they’re universal languages that speak to our shared humanity. Whether it’s tailgating with wings and burgers before a football game or gathering around a crawfish boil before cheering on a local team, these moments create bonds that cut through political noise or cultural divides. I’ve seen this firsthand in campaigns I’ve led, like one for a Dairy brand where we hosted farmers to flip the coin toss at high school football games. Families from all walks of life came together, sharing stories while cheering for their team. The result? A 30% increase in community engagement and a stronger sense of unity.

Food and sports tap into something primal—nourishment for the body and passion for the soul. They remind us of what we have in common, no matter our backgrounds.

Building Bridges Through Shared Experiences

In my work, I’ve seen how food and sports create shared experiences that dissolve barriers. For a dairy brand campaign, we partnered with a professional baseball team to create “Family Game Nights” at the stadium, featuring farm-to-table food trucks and player meet-and-greets. Fans who might never agree on politics found common ground over a love for the game and a shared appreciation for fresh, local cheese and ice cream. The campaign boosted brand loyalty by 18% and left attendees talking about the experience for weeks.

These moments work because food and sports are inherently inclusive. A perfectly grilled hot dog or a clutch game-winning play doesn’t care about your voting record—it just brings people together in celebration. When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Everyone from everywhere was hugging and high-fiving in Wrigleyville that night. Strangers became friends in the winning moment. That is the power of Sport. And without barley and hops farmers, Harry Caray would not have Budweisers.  

Amplifying Community Through Grassroots Initiatives

Grassroots efforts are where food and sports shine brightest in uniting communities. I’ve advised produce brands to sponsor youth sports leagues, setting up “healthy snack stations” at games where parents and kids learn about nutrition while bonding over soccer or basketball. One initiative I led for a vegetable brand involved donating fresh produce to local sports programs and hosting cooking demos with athletes. The result was a 22% increase in brand awareness and countless stories of families reconnecting over meals and games. These initiatives show that when you combine food and sports, you’re not just marketing—you’re building community.

Telling Authentic Stories That Resonate

Over the years I’ve learned that authenticity is key to connecting with audiences, and food and sports are perfect vehicles for telling real, relatable stories. For a poultry brand, we created a social media campaign featuring athletes and farmers sharing high-protein recipes and their personal stories of hard work and teamwork. The series, shared across Instagram and TikTok, garnered over 700,000 views and sparked conversations about health, family, and community. By focusing on the shared values of dedication and nourishment, we cut through divisive noise and created a narrative that resonated universally.

A Call to Brands: Unite Through Food and Sports

In today’s polarized world, agriculture and food brands have a unique opportunity to lean into the unifying power of food and sports. Whether it’s sponsoring a local team, hosting community events, or partnering with athletes to share authentic stories, the formula is simple: create moments where people can gather, eat, and cheer together. My work has shown me that these moments don’t just sell products—they build trust, foster connection, and remind us of our shared humanity.

Let’s harness the power of food and sports to bring people together. If you’re a brand looking to tell a story that unites, I’d love to connect and explore how we can make it happen. After all, in a world that often feels divided, nothing brings us together like a good meal and a great game.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights on how food and sports can transform your brand’s story, or reach out to discuss your next campaign!

Thinking About Food

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After following very closely two Future of Food events in the past couple weeks led by the PulitzerPrize winning editor of the Washington Post, Mary Jordan, I’ve had my eyes opened to just how complex and how many people in our country are concerned with the issue of feeding a growing global population. While many Americans are unsure where their next meal is going to come from, thought leaders in the agriculture and political spaces are considering how America will help feed an expected 9 billion people by the year 2050.
 
In food insecure countries around the world, neither farmers nor government have the necessary land or water needed to support a growing population. Without proper land and water systems at their disposal, the likelihood of producing an ample amount of food to feed their people is grim. As a result, people tun to any means necessary to survive which which means increased violence and unrest. In areas like the Middle East, there has already been in influx of violence, protest and crime due to the hunger issue. Iran, North Korea and China, as they experience rapid population growth, area also developing weapons which may at some time be used to attain food from countries that have water systems and land needed to produce food.
 
As we think about the role of food in regard to national security, it’s also vital to look at the quality of food that is available. Just eating what’s available isn’t the answer. Our country has an obesity epidemic that costs us trillions in healthcare annually as a result of poor choices and limited access to healthy food. There are growing concerns from a nutritional standpoint as the weight of our nation increases, childhood obesity statistics grow and the number of people suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other weight related illnesses cost Americans an astronomical amount of their income in healthcare annually; we have to ask ourselves, where does the relief come from?
 
Today at the Future of Food event in Denver it was reported that nearly 40 percent of all the food produced in America is wasted. Either at production sites by manufacturers or consumption sites by people, we waste enough food to feed millions of hungry people. In fact, America wastes approximately one ton of food per hungry person in the world every year. As millions starve around the world every day, we have more than enough in our dumpsters to feed them a ton of food each… When you consider how wasteful and inefficient we are, it’s no wonder we’ve acquired the reputation we have with these countries.
 

If you think this topic is interesting, join the conversation on Twitter by using the hash tag #thinkfood  and weigh in with your opinion. There are three upcoming events led by Mary Jordan and the Washington Post before the 2012 election; starting on July 16th and concluding in October. If you care about the future of food, I challenge you to think about where it’s going to come from.

Who Decides?

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I wrote an essay for a NY Times writing contest. I didn’t make the top five and have my piece featured in the Times, however I make an ethical case for why it’s ok to eat meat below.

The other morning while brushing my teeth I thought about your contest as I spit a mixture of bad breath and refreshing cool mint into the sink. It would take another minute or so of wakening and contemplation, but again after spitting, I realized that in order to answer your question, I would need to take a look back.

While inspecting my teeth and well before morning caffeine, I pondered my lack of elongated k9 incisors. It occurred to me that longer and sharper k9’s would surely aid the tearing and chewing of a poorly prepared New York strip, and certainly would be fun on Halloween, but I concluded the ones I have do the job just fine; minus the Halloween fun.

Later that morning during a grinding Chicago commute, I caught myself thinking back to the days of hunting and gathering and how much simpler life must have been. I thought about how those who were here before us lived off the land by gathering fruits and vegetables and catching fish and shell fish from streams. As the population of hunters and gathers grew, so did the need for leaders of communities to provide more food without moving all over the land like nomads. So they began to think with their primitive minds of ways they could accomplish this feat. They built tools and realized with these tools they could capture varieties of different food sources. They discovered they could roast their food over fire and that if they did these things, they could provide safety and health to a growing number of people and they could sustain their existence.

Those who came before us discovered that eating a variety of berries, roots, fish and animals from the plains meant they could enjoy the taste of food and that their lives were a little better with the addition of the new foods. Possibly the greatest lesson learned during this age, was that the smartest and most forward thinking of the hunters and gathers were the most respected throughout their land. When the people from the east hunted a new species on the plain and provided it to their community, no one in the west intruded or told them they were wrong. There was mutual respect for each other’s techniques, and neighbors desired to be educated about new food sources. Neighboring communities collaborated to find the best ways to hunt and prepare the catch as well as utilize the energy that the food source provided to them.

Neighbors have always disagreed with each other but through that disagreement, change, healthy discussion and compromise have led to the evolution of the world population. Neighbors for ages have sat at the negotiating table to discuss significant matters, and for ages, placed at the table was food and drink, shared as a sign of peace and nourishment so that leaders could think with clear minds, without hunger. As the leaders of today sit at the negotiating table to discuss a rapidly growing population and a scarce food supply, it seems ethical that all types of food be considered to compliment the feeding the world conversation.

We may personally disagree on taste and dietary preferences, but it’s our responsibility to think forward about all people and provide them with access to affordable and nutritious food. Foods of all tastes and cultural preferences should be available to them – responsibly, as they were available for us.