Industry

Yuengling’s Partnership With Wodapalooza is Groundbreaking for the Sport of CrossFit

November 21, 2021 by
Photo courtesy of Yuengling.
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A month ago, Wodapalooza announced a new partnership with Yuengling, crowning the United State’s oldest brewery as the “Official Beer” of the annual CrossFit competition held in Miami, FL in January, and perhaps one of the first major beer sponsorships in the sport. 

Why it matters: Yuengling represents yet another major non-endemic brand that Loud & Live Sports has introduced into CrossFit. Previous brands have included Chipotle, Gillette and Ram Trucks, which represent major marketplace spenders bringing money into CrossFit. 

  • Matt O’Keefe, President of Loud & Live Sports: “I am incredibly proud that non-endemic brands like Yuengling, Monster, cbdMD and TYR choose to activate their brands through our events. We take all partnerships incredibly seriously. We feel a high sense of responsibility to continue to steward the space forward and introduce the community to new platforms. At the same time introduce and validate non-endemic brands within our community and the entire training space.”

How it came about: How Loud & Live Sport, the organizers of Wodapalooza, and Yuengling were able to link up was much like how many partnerships are started in CrossFit, someone who worked at Yuengling was a CrossFitter. With the beer company moving its operations to Tampa, they were well aware of how big of an event Wodapalooza is.

  • O’Keefe: “Their ownership has a passion for health and wellness. They are building products focusing more on health, wellness, fitness and training, like Yuengling FLIGHT, which is the product we are building this partnership around.”
  • O’Keefe: “We are excited that Yuengling is going to activate the Yuengling FLIGHT franchise. It is a perfect fit for our community. We are excited for everyone, especially those that haven’t, to experience it. The WZA community will, through Yuengling’s activation, have ample opportunity to experience the brand and sample the product. It will be available on site in many locations and at our partner hotel, the Intercontinental, in a lobby activation.”
  • Yuengling is the sixth-largest overall brewery and largest wholly American-owned brewery in the United States available in 22 states, mostly from the Mid-West to East Coast.
  • FLIGHT is what Yuengling has called the “next generation of light beer.” It consists of 2.6 grams of carbs, 95 calories, and 4.2% ABV, the beer is brewed to be crisp and easy-to-drink.

The bottom line: From what we could tell, this is the first instance that a major beer company has sponsored a major CrossFit competition. Beer brands represent a huge chunk of sponsorship money across all the major sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS and the NHL. Along with beer companies, financial institutions, credit card companies, insurance companies and fast food chains typically shell out big money to sponsor athletic events. The partnership with Yuengling could be the first step to those other institutions and brands crossing over to CrossFit. 

  • “It is a great sign that non-endemic brands are seeing the value of partnering with our sport and specifically WZA. Helping brands tell a training story through our platforms is fun. We are grateful for the trust put in us by our partners to execute this. We all have to keep working together to grow every aspect of the sport. Everyone wins if we are pointed in the same north, create premium experience for athletes, fans, partners and volunteers. Without any one of those pillars we have nothing.” 

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