Modelo Becomes the First Official Beer Partner of the NCAA
Modelo Becomes the First Official Beer Partner of the NCAA
Marcus HartmanSat, November 14, 2026 at 2:43 AM UTC
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(Kelly Wilkinson / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Modelo has come a long way in just over 100 years.
So has college athletics when it comes to embracing beer on an official basis.
Now the two are officially business partners in an historic agreement announced this week.
A history-making deal
Although fans have been known to imbibe before (and after) college sporting events for many years, that activity was frowned upon within the stadiums until fairly recently.
After all, less than a decade ago Luke Combs sang about not knowing why you can’t buy beer at a college football game, a reality current students might find as unfamiliar as doing classwork without the help of AI or attending classes in person.
But West Virginia became the first big school to allow beer sales at its football games in the early 2010s, and schools such as Minnesota, Texas and Ohio State later followed their lead.
The NCAA itself voted to allow beer and wine sales at all NCAA championship events in 2018, and many other schools now do the same.
While the SEC was among the last holdouts, two of its schools led the way in revenue from alcohol according to a report by ExtraPoints.com published last fall: Texas A&M brought in more than $4.7 million while LSU was second at more than $3.6 million.
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The evolution of the official business relationship between beer and college sports continued this week with the announcement the NCAA has an official beer partner in Modelo, a first for the organization that oversees major college athletics.
“Partnering with Modelo creates new revenue opportunities that support NCAA championships and help strengthen the athletic departments of more than 1,100 NCAA member schools,” NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a press release. “These investments help expand opportunities across college sports while enhancing the championship experiences that inspire and engage fans nationwide.”
More about Modelo
Modelo Especial has been the top-selling beer in the United States since 2023 and traces its roots to the small town of Tacuba, Mexico, where it began being brewed in 1925.
Modelo beers are still brewed exclusively in Mexico, but Constellation Brands imports and markets Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra, Modelo Oro and other hard drinks.
Modelo was already the official beer sponsor of the College Football Playoff, which is run independently of the NCAA, but now it will be featured prominently in advertisements for the NCAA Tournaments in men’s and women’s basketball — a.k.a. March Madness.
That will include exclusive NCAA partner integrations across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV as those networks broadcast the men’s tournament in March.
Such a partnership was made possible as part of the NCAA’s move to expand the basketball tournaments to 76 teams.
That will begin next spring.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Nov 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Money”
