Sports Sponsorships - Anheuser-Busch InBev

The top spender in sports, wielding a $365 million marketing budget -- is giving up a number of prized exclusive deals with major leagues, a major shift in strategy for the marketer. In recent months, the brewer has reworked more than a dozen pro-team partnerships involving the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer in ways that sacrifice exclusivity for cheaper deals. The move has allowed beer-industry rivals to step in and pick up key deals once off-limits to them.