The Deals
Athletic Brewing Company, America's largest dedicated non-alcoholic brewer, has signed multi-year athlete-owner partnerships with New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, the company announced Sept. 9. Both players will take equity stakes in the brand and appear in dedicated campaigns launching immediately across social media.
The agreements deepen a sports-marketing playbook that has become central to Athletic's commercial strategy. The Milford, Conn.-based brewer is already poured at more than 200 venues nationwide and holds partnerships spanning professional football, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, hockey, college athletics, endurance events, and outdoor sports — a portfolio that now gains two of the NFL's most visible quarterbacks.
Market Position
The timing underscores Athletic's commanding position in the fast-growing non-alcoholic beer segment. According to NielsenIQ data covering the 52 weeks ending Aug. 8, 2026, Athletic holds more than 50% share of the U.S. non-alcoholic craft beer market, outselling the next 100 NA craft brands combined and leading its closest competitor by 44 share points. The brand is also ranked among the top 15 U.S. brewing companies overall by the Brewers Association's 2025 Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report. Athletic produces nearly 50 NA beers annually and its products are stocked at more than 75,000 retail locations nationwide.
The non-alcoholic beer category has attracted sustained attention from both established brewers and investors as consumer demand for moderation-minded alternatives accelerates. Athletic, launched commercially in 2018 by co-founders Bill Shufelt and John Walker, pioneered a proprietary brewing method developed through hundreds of small-batch trials. The company has since accumulated more than 200 taste awards and operates dedicated breweries in Connecticut and California — a bicoastal manufacturing footprint that Prescott specifically cited as a factor in his decision to join.
Campaign and Strategy
The first creative work — branded the "Athletic Fits" campaign — leans on misdirection humor drawn from football strategy. In Maye's spots, fans staging an impromptu tailgate alongside a throwing session steal attention from the quarterback himself; in Prescott's, a backyard cookout crowd rushes past the veteran signal-caller toward a cooler stocked with Athletic brews. The self-deprecating format is designed to broaden the brand's reach among sports fans while reinforcing its core positioning around active, balanced lifestyles.
"Athletic's growth story and challenger mindset immediately stood out to me," Maye said. "Becoming an athlete-owner gives me an opportunity to learn from that journey and begin building my own understanding of business and entrepreneurship." Prescott, who framed the deal as an extension of deliberate business-building, pointed to the company's long-term orientation: "I really admire what Bill and John have built and their willingness to challenge conventional thinking."
Co-Founder and CEO Bill Shufelt described both quarterbacks as sharing the company's operational values. "They share our belief in hard work, accountability, constant improvement, and putting the team first," he said.
For operators and retailers tracking the NA segment, the Maye-Prescott signings signal continued aggressive investment by Athletic in brand-building at scale. The company's athlete-owner model — which converts marketing relationships into equity arrangements — mirrors structures that have proven effective in spirits and energy drinks, and positions Athletic to defend its outsized share lead as larger brewers direct resources toward the NA category. Coverage of the broader NA beer opportunity has been tracked by Food & Beverage Magazine, and the competitive dynamics shaping shelf allocation are examined in our non-alcoholic beverage category analysis and our sports-marketing deals tracker.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
