Modesto’s Gallo is now NFL’s official wine. TV ads and more await in 2022 season
The National Football League has inked a sponsorship deal with E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto.
The company aims to reach a fan base associated more with beer as the “official wine” for the league. The campaign will launch in August and involve game-time TV ads, social media, in-store displays, special events and more.
“For us, this is a way to expose more consumers to our brands, with a very captive audience,” said Stephanie Gallo, chief marketing officer, in a phone interview Wednesday.
She is a third-generation leader of a business that launched in 1933 and is now the world’s largest wine producer.
The company would not disclose the cost of the campaign or its duration, other than that it is multi-year. It targets an estimated 191 million pro football fans in the United States through the Super Bowl each season.
The promotion will start with the Barefoot line of still, sparkling and fruit-infused wines. It is among the hottest sellers among Gallo’s 80-plus brands made in Modesto and elsewhere. Lines such as Black Box and Gallo Family Vineyards could follow.
“We are excited to partner with E.&J. Gallo to bring more choices for our fans,” said Tracie Rodburg, the league’s senior vice president for sponsorship management, in a news release. “We look forward to pairing E.&J. Gallo’s extensive portfolio of wines, including its iconic brand Barefoot, with our fans, clubs and premiere events for memorable NFL experiences.”
Gallo employs about 7,000 people in the Central Valley, near the California coast, in Washington and New York states, and in several foreign countries. It is building a bottling plant in South Carolina.
Stephanie Gallo said the NFL deal meshes with the goal of co-founders Ernest and Julio Gallo to “democratize” a product that was seen as elitist.
“We believe the opportunity is to demystify wine and to make wine accessible, and what better platform than our NFL sponsorship to promoting wine for social casual occasions?” she said.
