Company News

NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the Madison Square Garden Company and Anheuser-Busch, which has a 160-year legacy of brewing America’s most-popular beers, announced a renewed and expanded multi-year marketing sponsorship, continuing the brewing company’s role as one of Madison Square Garden’s signature sponsors. The agreement provides Anheuser-Busch with premier experiences and activations that can only happen across Madison Square Garden’s unrivaled set of assets across its sports and entertainment properties, including a new joint concert series: “One Night Only.”

The “One Night Only’ concert series will include six intimate performances – the Theater at MSG – bringing fans closer to the music than ever before. The series will feature celebrated artists across multiple genres of music, with country superstar vocal group Rascal Flatts slated to take the stage on November 14^th.

For this special performance, Rascal Flatts will pair some of their biggest hits with new tracks from their first-ever holiday album, “The Greatest Gift of All.” The “One Night Only” concert event with Rascal Flatts will serve as the stage debut of their new holiday songs. The much anticipated 10-track collection was produced by the band and features moving and powerhouse performances that the trio is known for, while offering personal touches to some fan-favorite staples of the festive season.

“At Anheuser-Busch, we are always in search of unique ways to connect with our fans and offer them one-of-a-kind experiences, especially in the music space,” said Ricardo Marques, vice president of Budweiser. “Our activation with Madison Square Garden truly brings fans closer to the music than ever before. We are excited to partner with Rascal Flatts as they exclusively preview their holiday album to fans.”

To enhance the fan experience, Anheuser-Busch will bring its popular Budweiser Country Club, an interactive branded footprint tailored to country music fans and usually reserved for country festivals, to life inside the Theater at MSG. Anheuser-Busch will also unveil the Bud Light Lounge, a Premiere Hospitality Space, in the arena in 2017.

“Anheuser-Busch is one of the most innovative brands in sports and entertainment marketing and the #1 brewer in the world. We are thrilled that they, having experienced the value we deliver, have decided to expand their sponsorship with activations that include the distinctive ‘One Night Only’ concert series, as well as the Bud Light Lounge, which will become a premier hospitality space in The World’s Most Famous Arena,” said Ron Skotarczak, executive vice president, marketing partnerships, The Madison Square Garden Company. “MSG is committed to using the strength of our legendary brands to create memorable live experiences that delight our customers and benefit our partners in significant and measurable ways, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the number one brewer in the world on programs and promotions that enhance both of our businesses.”

As part of the renewed sponsorship, MSG and Anheuser-Busch will work together on a first-of-its-kind custom content platform to amplify many key activations and extend the reach of the sponsorship beyond events at MSG venues. This will include short-form pieces and longer form content series that will run across various MSG and Anheuser-Busch owned marketing and media channels.

Anheuser-Busch will also enjoy significant marketing exposure at every event at The Garden. This will include in-game LED messaging during all Knicks, Rangers and Liberty games; courtside LED signage throughout the Arena for all Knicks and Liberty games; in-arena LED ribbons during entertainment events; and outdoor signage around MSG. Bud Light will also extend their Knicks and Rangers sponsorships across the New York market through various activations.

For more information on Rascal Flatts’ new album being released on October 21, visit www.rascalflatts.com to pre-order now.

About The Madison Square Garden Company
The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) is a world leader in live sports and entertainment that presents or hosts a broad array of world-class events – including concerts, sporting events, family shows and special events – in an unparalleled mix of celebrated venues that span four of the nation’s largest entertainment markets. Those venues are: New York’s Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Beacon Theatre; the Forum in Inglewood, CA; The Chicago Theatre; and the Wang Theatre in Boston.  In addition, MSG has a diverse collection of properties that includes some of the most widely-recognized sports franchises: the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Rangers (NHL) and the New York Liberty (WNBA), along with two development league teams — the Westchester Knicks (NBADL) and the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL).  The Company also features popular original entertainment productions — the Christmas Spectacular and New York Spectacular – both starring the Radio City Rockettes, and through Boston Calling Events, produces outdoor festivals, including New England’s premier Boston Calling Music Festival.   More information is available at www.themadisonsquaregardencompany.com  

About Anheuser-Busch
For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch and its world-class brewmasters have carried on a legacy of brewing America’s most-popular beers. Starting with the finest ingredients sourced from Anheuser-Busch’s family of growers, every batch is crafted using the same exacting standards and time-honored traditions passed down through generations of proud Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and employees. Best known for its fine American-style lagers, Budweiser and Bud Light, the company’s beers lead numerous beer segments. Budweiser and Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita were named Brands of the Year for the Beer and the Spirits, Malt Beverages and Wine categories, respectively, by Ace Metrix® in 2014.  Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev and operates 20 local breweries, 21 distributorships and 23 agricultural and packaging facilities across the United States. The company committed to investing more than $1.5 billion in its U.S. brewing, agriculture, packaging and distributing operations by 2018. Its flagship brewery remains in St. Louis, Mo., and is among the global company’s largest and most technologically-capable breweries. Visitor and special tours are available at its St. Louis and five other Anheuser-Busch breweries. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

About Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts has sold over 23.1 million albums,  32 million digital downloads worldwide, as well as earning over 40 trophies from the ACAs, ACMs, AMAs, CMAs, People’s Choice Awards and more,  making them the most awarded country group of the past decade.  The trio also added to their many accolades this summer, earning their 16th No. One, with the infectious hit-single “I Like The Sound Of That,” that was also recently certified PLATINUM by The RIAA.