Chicago-based MillerCoors LLC, which brews much of its beer in Milwaukee, has reached a two-year agreement with Arlington, Texas-based Strike Ten Entertainment to become the “Official Beer Partner of Bowling.”
“This partnership is unique because rather than leading with a single brand, we’ll be promoting MillerCoors’ broad portfolio of high-quality beers and hard ciders,” said John Harbuck, president of Strike Ten Entertainment. “We also benefit through MillerCoors training tools and category insights, which will help us grow the beverage category for our 3,500 bowling center members across the country.”
To further support efforts to build its beer business, Strike Ten Entertainment has hired an in-house trade brewer who will work directly with centers to provide training and educational tools.
“MillerCoors and our brands have enjoyed a long history with the bowling community, and we’re proud to build on that relationship with this unique partnership,” said John Beck, vice president of on-premise national accounts for MillerCoors.
The centralized sponsor-activation arm of the bowling industry, Strike Ten Entertainment’s mission is to increase national awareness of bowling and to assist the bowling industry in developing new bowlers and increasing the frequency of existing bowlers.
In other MillerCoors news, the company recently purchased property at 3800 W. Wells St. in Milwaukee for $1,019,000. MillerCoors (and Miller Brewing before it) had leased the property since the 1970s to store fermentation equipment.
“A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to buy a share of this property, and did so–we like to own our business interests whenever possible,” said spokeswoman Cat Corrigan.
Lastly, MillerCoors this week is releasing two new products: the Blue Moon White IPA and the Crispin Venus Reigns. The former combines the styles of American IPA and Blue Moon’s classic Belgian White. The latter is Crispin’s first-ever pear barrel-aged cider. It is made from Colfax golden pear wine, aged for 26 months to full maturity.
