Dive Brief:
- Coors Banquet is investing in live sports marketing for the first time in half a decade following consecutive years of sales growth, according to a press release.
- The brand’s media budget is getting a double digit increase, with TV ads scheduled to air during the 2026 MLB and college football seasons. The sports marketing push is one element in the latest installment of the Molson Coors brand’s ongoing “Start Your Legacy” campaign.
- As part of the effort, a new 15-second spot highlights the beer’s water source while emphasizing the brand’s cowboy aesthetic. Also on deck are updated packaging, a new line of country music festival merchandise, a Wrangler collaboration and an integration with upcoming “Yellowstone” spin-off “Dutton Ranch.”
Dive Insight:
Coors Banquet is venturing back into live sports marketing after years of focusing on TV integrations, most notably with the Paramount Western drama “Yellowstone.” The widening of the brand’s marketing initiatives comes as the beer undergoes significant sales growth along with an uptick in interest from younger consumers. The brand has seen five consecutive years of volume sales growth, was one of the top five fastest-growing major beer brands in total beer in 2025 and was one of the fastest-growing beer brands with legal drinking-age Gen Z consumers, per details shared in the blog post.
“We’re always looking to reach new drinkers and new occasions across our expanding portfolio, but sometimes that means finding new drinkers by introducing them to a timeless icon,” says Chief Marketing Officer Sofia Colucci in the blog post. “Banquet is consistent, for both our loyal fans and those just discovering it. It’s a legacy we’re proud to build on, and with our 100% Rocky Mountain Water, it’s a legacy you can taste.”
The latest “Start Your Legacy” spot shows a man, presumably a rancher or cowboy, enjoying a Coors Banquet after a long day of work as he looks out on a Western landscape. The voiceover explains that the beer is brewed only with “water from the Rockies.” The focus on the Rocky Mountains is similar to the marketing strategy of its sister brand, Coors Light, which uses a color changing label to indicate the beer is “as cold as the Rockies.”
Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors' main competitor, has been a mainstay in sports marketing for decades. Recently, the company extended its partnership with MLB through 2032, while also adding non-exclusive advertising rights for ready-to-drink cocktail products Cutwater and Nütrl Vodka Seltzer. Molson Coors has been making steady inroads in the space, airing its first Super Bowl spot in over three decades in 2023.
Molson Coors’ 2025 net sales revenue totaled $11.14 billion, a 4.8% decrease from the year prior, according to an earnings report. Coors Banquet is a big focus for the company, especially as it sees a growth in both volume and market share, company executives said during a Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference 2026 presentation.
