In the next few days, Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group is expected to become the official soft-drink partner at the 64,000-seat Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams.
Bob Reif, chief marketing officer for the NFC West team, said the “ink is not yet dry [but] obviously we believe it’s going to happen.”
This marks Dr Pepper’s second exclusive soft-drink deal in the National Football League. In April 2012, the nation’s third-largest soda maker said it had signed a seven-year marketing agreement with the Chicago Bears to be the exclusive provider of sodas and other nonalcoholic drinks at Soldier Field.
The maker of drinks sold under brands ranging from Canada Dry to Hawaiian Punch is “an official beverage partner” of the Dallas Cowboys, but that is not an exclusive relationship.
Reif said Dr Pepper Snapple Group would be the “official carbonated soft drink provider” for the Rams, selling several lines including Dr Pepper, 7Up and Snapple. Rams facts will be printed under the caps of Snapple products.
The deal also includes Deja Blue water, which will be rebranded in the St. Louis area to include a gold cap with the Rams’ blue colors.
“Really, the cornerstone of this deal is that the Rams’ logos are going to be on over 5 million cans and bottles starting this fall,” Reif said. “That’s activation that our brand has not seen in a very long time.”
He declined to reveal financial terms. Dr Pepper declined to comment until the deal is official.
Dr Pepper takes over for PepsiCo, the parent of Plano-based Frito-Lay. The PepsiCo contract expired at the end of the 2012 season. As the contract was winding down, the Rams began talks with Dr Pepper as well as Coke and Pepsi, Reif said.
Dr Pepper is smaller than both Coke and Pepsi, but “I will say … they bring all their assets to bear. Dr Pepper far and away brought more to the table,” Reif said.
“We couldn’t spend the amount of money in marketing that Dr Pepper is able to do.”
The Rams’ deal comes with a certain level of mystery. Earlier this month the city of St. Louis said no thanks to a proposal that would have poured $700 million in public financing into stadium upgrades at the Edward Jones Dome, according to published reports.
The Rams now have the right to break their stadium lease and go elsewhere after the 2014 season, the reports said.
Reif declined to comment on how the Dr Pepper contract deals with that possibility.
He said Dr Pepper has the second-largest market share in St. Louis behind PepsiCo. Over the next five years he sees the company reaching No. 1.
