--- title: Why Peyton Manning Gave Budweiser $3 Million in Free Advertising description: Peyton Manning owns Anheuser-Busch distributors in Louisiana, giving a possible reason why he plugged Budweiser after the Super Bowl. authors: - name: Kerry Close url: https://money.com/author/kerry-close/ at_money_since: 2016 articles: 182 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/kerryclose former_staff: true published: '2016-02-08T15:58:11.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T10:54:44.000Z' section: Business tags: - 2016 Super Bowl - Advertising - Anheuser-Busch InBev - Budweiser - Denver Broncos - Peyton Manning word_count: 285 canonical: https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![160208_EM_ManningFreeAd](https://img.money.com/2016/02/160208_em_manningfreead.jpg) Anheuser-Busch InBev plunked down about $15 million for Super Bowl advertisements this year to promote its Budweiser and Bud Light brands. But one of the company's most memorable plugs during Sunday's game—from Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning—came for free. In a post-game interview with CBS's Tracy Wolfson, Manning said he planned to ["drink a lot of Budweiser](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/peyton-manning-handed-budweiser-32-million-in-free-ads-after-the-super-bowl-2016-02-08?dist=beforebell)" to celebrate his Super Bowl victory. A few minutes later on the winner's podium, the five-time National Football League MVP again brought up the popular brew, saying, "What’s weighing on my mind is how soon I can get a Bud Light in my mouth." His comments generated more than $3.2 million in media exposure for Anheuser-Busch InBev, [Bloomberg reported](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-08/peyton-manning-just-gave-budweiser-3-2-million-in-free-ad-time). That number is expected to grow as marketing analysts factor in the impact of overnight television coverage and social media. Though Manning wasn't paid for his Budweiser promotions, his actions might not have been totally without calculation: He's part-owner of two Anheuser-Busch distributors in his home state of Louisiana, [Yahoo News reported](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/peyton-manning-s-budweiser-plugs-were-a-little-self-serving-051858426.html). Manning is the [highest-paid product spokesman](http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/10/11/the-nfl-players-who-make-the-most-from-endorsements/#6aff7dc9411b) in the NFL, bringing in $12 million each year from endorsements of companies like Nationwide Insurance and Papa John's Pizza. **Read next: Budweiser Doubles Down by Mocking Craft Beer Again in Super Bowl Ad** The long-time NFL quarterback also promoted Papa John's during the post-game festivities by publicly embracing company founder John Schnatter. Manning owns [32 franchises](http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl-news/4694169-peyton-manning-papa-john-kiss-super-bowl-50) of the pizza chain in Colorado. Active NFL players are not allowed to endorse alcoholic beverages, per league rules. But if the Super Bowl was indeed Manning's last game of professional football, many are speculating that he may have just taken the first step to securing himself a regular gig as a Budweiser spokesperson. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Advertising", "item": "https://money.com/advertising/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Why Peyton Manning Gave Budweiser $3 Million in Free Advertising" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/", "name": "Why Peyton Manning Gave Budweiser $3 Million in Free Advertising", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-02-08T15:58:11.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:54:44.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Why Peyton Manning Gave Budweiser $3 Million in Free Advertising", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/02/160208_em_manningfreead.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1400, "caption": "160208_EM_ManningFreeAd" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kerry Close", "url": "https://money.com/author/kerry-close/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kerry-close/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/kerryclose" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-02-08T15:58:11.000Z", "description": "Peyton Manning owns Anheuser-Busch distributors in Louisiana, giving a possible reason why he plugged Budweiser after the Super Bowl.", "abstract": "Peyton Manning owns Anheuser-Busch distributors in Louisiana, giving a possible reason why he plugged Budweiser after the Super Bowl.", "@id": "https://money.com/peyton-manning-budweiser-free-advertising/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:54:44.000Z", "wordCount": 285, "keywords": [ "2016 Super Bowl", "Advertising", "Anheuser-Busch InBev", "Budweiser", "Denver Broncos", "Peyton Manning" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advertising", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising" ] } ] } ] } ```