Just saw this today, Coors Light has announced a $20 million dollar deal to become the official beer of Nascar over the next five years.

Coors replaces Anheuser-Busch as the official sponsor. The new deal includes renaming the pole award to the Coors Light Pole Award from the Bud Pole Award.

For Coors, the NASCAR deal also replaces its sponsorship of the No. 40 Dodge in the Nextel Cup Series.

“Our deal was up with those guys, and this opportunity came up,” says Andy England, chief marketer for Coors. “It feels like we are elevating our game.”

For consumer product marketers, a league deal opens up greater opportunity for strong retail display — especially in and around cities when races occur. Source: Coors Light to become the official beer of NASCAR

Apparently, Anheuser-Busch is backing down their sponsorship money a lot as they will no longer sponsor the Busch series either. Maybe they have figured out what some of the top advertising minds are beginning to figure out, it’s not all about the branding anymore. I don’t know about you all, but I’ll still be drinking the old Bud Light.