On Tuesday Miller and Coors decided to merge the two companies into one. The deal gives a 58% stake to the boys of Miller and a 42% percent stake to the Molson Coors cats, however the agreement states their will be an equal voting share. So how will this really effect the average beer drinker?The answer is... Probably not that much, atleast initially. The companies are claiming that the merger will save them a combined 500 million dollars per year. This will result from "reducing shipping distances, optimizing production and eliminating overlapping corporate and marketing services." All of this will be things that most people in the country will not see the difference. So if you expect Coors Light to disappear off the shelves, because it's horrible, in favor of Miller Light than you are mistaken.
Where they will be some publicly noted difference is in "corporate and marketing services". Currently Coors Light is the official beer of NASCAR and the NFL so sometime in the near future you may expect to see more and more Miller adds during these miserable racing events and beautiful football games. Meanwhile Budweiser is the official sponsor of just about everything else, including the MLB, NBA, NHL and 28 of the NFL franchises which you would have assumed fell under the Coors sponsorship of the NFL Umbrella. The combined money of Coors and Miller could in the foreseeable future challenge Budweiser for one or several of these sponsorships.
Additionally, if you go to a bar or a ballpark that typically doesn't have both, the joint venture could put a little squeeze down and force people to accept both brands. For instance of the 28 NFL Franchises which are currently sponsored by Bud, Miller and Coors could offer a package which include a wider variety such as Killian's and Blue Moon. Similarly they may be able to get better display space at your local liquor or grocery store as now because they have a more and more brands they have more power to guide the distributor to promoting their brands.
So after this Joint Venture is finally approved it will be interesting to see if they use the combined powers simply for the behind the scenes advantages or start to put on the attack on Anheuser Busch.
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