Former ESPN commentator Sage Steele praised UFC president Dana White for reinstating a sponsorship deal with the widely boycotted beer brand Bud Light, saying, “Everyone deserves a second chance.” I have a right to it.”
With the double outrage of calling his customers unsophisticated and lowlife, and then hiring a transgender publicist to market his former beer, Mr. White caused massive and financial damage. Despite the beer boycott, the company has received a lot of criticism for returning to Bud Light as a sponsor. It is marketed to working class customers.
The ensuing boycott of beer brands cost the company billions of dollars in market share and profits.
SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele attends the ESPNW Women’s+ Sports Summit held at The Resort at Pelican Hill on October 23, 2019 in Newport Beach, California. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
White defended his move, saying that despite Bud Light’s pivot to woke politics, it greatly supported the military, police and America. White belligerently called fans who didn’t like it “dummies” and “bastards.”
Now, in comments on the OutKick The Morning podcast, Steele praised White’s return to Bud Light as a sponsor, even calling the renewed sponsorship a “great move.”
“I understand that, but I said this to Dana when we met a few weeks ago…In my opinion, everyone deserves a second chance because it’s like number one,” Steele said, according to Fox News. You deserve it.’ I love that he did that.” . “I really believe that. And secondly, what a great business move.”
“When a company goes downhill and loses billions of dollars, you can’t imagine how much money they’re going to pay to improve their image, strictly from a business perspective. Please try it,” she said. “And the UFC benefited greatly from that. I just think it’s great, and again, he didn’t care: ‘This is what I’m going to do.’ He has proven himself to be a pretty good businessman. ” And it was great to see the people there having fun too. ”
In other comments, White defended his move, noting that Bud Light employs tens of thousands of Americans and should do something to protect their jobs.
“They employ 65,000 Americans and thousands of veterans. I’m buying crops. And there are many other reasons why I did this.” White Said Sean Hannity in October
Dylan Mulvaney accepts the Streamy Award for Breakout Creator on stage at the 2023 Streamy Awards held at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel on August 27, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Rich Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images)
White also argued that Bud Light’s “core values” are much closer to mainstream American values than those of the hard-core far left.
Still, Bud Light has long supported a radical LGBTQ agenda. Just last year, the company donated $200,000 to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, just one of its donations to the far left. And the donation came amid a heated boycott against transgender aid.
Despite the boycott, the company has not changed its focus on the far-left causes it has always supported, despite Steele and White’s claims that it is addressing its image.
It seems likely that Bud Light wants everyone to forget their support for the anti-American and anti-family leftists and just move on. And White and Steele seem happy to support Bud Light in that effort.
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