It's Still Miller Time at American Family Field

At the Beer Marketers Insights conference in June, former Molson Coors executive Pete Marino had one of the most memorable quotes. While on stage with host and moderator Benj Steinman, he shared, “The beer category has largely ceded great advertising to insurance, of all categories.”

Pete, who grew up in Wisconsin, continued by pointing to the famous campaigns that attracted him personally to the beer category, like the Miller Lite All-Star campaign and Spuds MacKenzie. While Pete’s explanations were more about how creative advertising campaigns have veered away from the core beer consumer audience, I couldn’t help but draw a very on-the-nose connection during my recent visit to M̶i̶l̶l̶e̶r̶ ̶P̶a̶r̶k̶ American Family Field with my son last Thursday.

Despite the fact that I’m always looking for fun content pretty much all waking hours, I most certainly did not initiate this father-son trip to Milwaukee expecting this piece to come about. My BrightBev partner (and editor) Jeff Agase worked for MillerCoors and Molson Coors for nearly 15 years, but I assure you he didn’t put me up to this story. It truly developed organically and only after a customary walk around the ballpark.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Miller Brewing Company struck the original deal for the Miller Park naming rights in 1996, before Miller became part of MillerCoors in 2008 and eventually Molson Coors in 2016. The rights cost $40 million total, spread across 20 seasons beginning in 2001 and lasting through 2020.

When Molson Coors elected not to renew its naming rights ahead of the 2021 season, who stepped up? American Family Insurance, Wisconsin’s largest provider of…you guessed it…personal auto and homeowners insurance. The Madison-based company inked a 15-year deal to take over the stadium’s naming rights, shifting the sponsorship from beer to insurance.

I felt a similar loss as a Brewers fan one year later when the naming rights to Heinz Field, home to my Pittsburgh Steelers, weren’t renewed with our hometown ketchup brand. Heinz Field’s run was nearly identical to Miller Park’s, opening in August 2001 and losing its Heinz naming rights in July 2022. Also identical was the industry of the new sponsor, Acrisure: insurance.

Of course, the name on the outside only tells part of the story. To see where beer still fits into the experience, we had to get inside the ballpark.