Fact Check: Is Bud Light the new sponsor of The Olympics? Free beer and $1 billion claim debunked

Over a year after the Bud Light boycott in the United States, an article published on July 30 claimed that the beer brand is one of the 2024 Paris Olympics’ sponsors. The website Esspots released the article following last week's performance at the event, which spurred controversy.

During Friday's opening ceremony at the Olympics, a portrayal of the Greek God Dionysus' festival was widely interpreted as a ridicule of Leonardo Da Vinci's prominent work The Last Supper.

Conservative Christians along with politicians across the world condemned the segment enacted by drag queens. US telecommunications company C Spire withdrew all its ads from the event following the backlash.

Esspots' article on Bud Light, on Tuesday, alleged the beer brewer's decision to sponsor the event came after:

"a mass exodus of traditionally conservative, non-woke companies, who have decided to drop out of sponsoring the event, citing concerns over what they view as an overly progressive agenda."

The Facebook page for the website that goes by the name SpaceX Fan Club further claimed the beverage company is "reportedly paying $1 billion and giving free beer."

Viral claim says Bud Light to allegedly sponsor the Olympics. (Image via Facebook/SpaceX Fanclub)

However, Esspots' assertion is false. Bud Light didn't release any official statement about sponsoring the Olympics or distributing free beer at the event. It's rather Corona Cero, a non-alcoholic beer by Bud's parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev, that was declared as a sponsor at the game.

Furthermore, the website that published the article, says on its 'About Us' page:

"On this page, you can expect to find all sorts of hilarious stories and parodies about US politics, culture and society. From outrageous conspiracy theories to outlandish political stunts, we’ve got it all covered."

Esspots also clarified in its Disclaimer:

"Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real."

Sportskeeda has previously debunked another viral claim made by this website where it was said that Samsung was pulling out of its advertising deal due to the Last Supper backlash.

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Debunking viral claim about Bud Light's sponsorship at the Olympics

Esspots' article has a few inaccurate mentions. The website named Chick-fil-A, Goya Foods and Hobby Lobby as other sponsors at the Olympics, who pulled out of their sponsorship deals following "the Olympic Committee’s decision to include various progressive elements in the opening".

However, these company names didn't appear on the partnership list on the Olympics' official website. The article further named Dan Cathy as the CEO of Chick-fil-A, while Dan was the former CEO. The current Chief Executive Officer of the popular restaurant chain is Andrew Truett Cathy.

Esspots also incorporated a supposed statement from Bud Light's VP of marketing, who the website referred to as Jill Goodwin. However, Alissa Heinerscheid is the current vice-president of marketing at the company. These errors further dispel the website's claim about Bud Light's sponsorship at the Olympics.

In January, the International Olympic Committee announced that the event would team up with a beer brand for the first time. Referring to the partnership deal with Corona Cero, CEO of AB InBev, Michel Doukeris said in a press release:

"This partnership illustrates the opportunity for our category to positively impact and engage with billions of fans around the world, ushering in a new era of Olympic spirit as we cheer for our favorite teams and athletes as they go for gold."

Corona Cero launched its Olympics-edition packs last week.

It's to be noted that the Olympics has no current association with Bud Light. The beer brewer first encountered backlash in April 2023, after partnering with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.