In May, when it became clear that Anheuser-Busch had won the rights to be the official beer of the NFL, I ripped the deal as a "lazy buy."
My rationale was that Anheuser-Busch would better doing the stealth type of marketing that craft beers were doing instead of the mainstream deals, which I argued would get less of a bang for their buck.
The deal, reported at six years and $1.2 billion, did include the right to the NFL shield and the use of all the logos. What didn't it include? Well, team deals are separately negotiated and there is no advertising exclusivity for any game except for the Super Bowl.
The package did include a two-year extension (through 2014) on exclusive beer rights for the Super Bowl broadcast. The folks at Anheuser Busch promised me they would respond to my criticism when the time was right. Since the deal actually began today they did so. Here's my conversation with Anheuser Busch president Dave Peacock.