CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s a shot across the bow from the sponsor that has long been sports’ biggest sugar daddy: Anheuser-Busch InBev recently began paring its extensive sponsorship portfolio by around 25%.

The cuts will take place across sports, music and other entertainment properties, eventually reducing A-B InBev’s roster of property deals from around 400 to between 280 and 300.

Given the pandemic dynamics, which included months without live sports followed by spectator sports played without live spectators, nearly all marketing inventory, and certainly sports marketing assets, are operating in a buyer’s market and will be for some time. It’s also put pressure on every sponsorship budget. However, Nick Kelly, A-B InBev vice president of partnerships, beer culture and community, said the brewer will not be spending less on sponsorship marketing once the cuts are completed.

Read the full story on cleveland.com’s sister site, Cleveland Business Journal.

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