Voltar
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott are getting into the beer business, and they're doing more than showing up in commercials.
Maye and Prescott have joined Athletic Brewing Company as athlete-owners. Both quarterbacks will promote the company's non-alcoholic beer, but they also own a piece of the company.
Prescott has been building a business portfolio away from football for a while. Maye is only 24 and is getting started on that side of things pretty early in his career.
Athletic Brewing announced the multiyear partnerships in September. However, the company hasn't said how much Maye or Prescott's ownership stake are worth.
Maye talked about wanting to learn more about business and entrepreneurship when the deal was announced. He said becoming an athlete-owner gives him a chance to learn from Athletic's growth and start building his own understanding of the business world.
Maye is still early in his NFL career, so there's plenty of time to figure out what he wants to do away from football. Getting an ownership stake in a company that's already grown this much isn't a bad place to start.
Athletic Brewing launched commercially in 2018 and has grown into the largest dedicated nonalcoholic brewer in the United States. Its products are sold at more than 75,000 retail locations and served at more than 200 sports and entertainment venues.
There's some serious money behind it, too. Athletic was valued at around $800 million after a $50 million investment round in 2024. We don't know how much Maye invested or what percentage of the company he owns, so trying to put a dollar figure on his stake would be guessing.
Prescott's involvement makes sense when you look at what he's already been doing away from football.
The Cowboys quarterback has spent years adding investments and partnerships, and Athletic Brewing isn't even his first move into the beverage business. He's also an investor in Spindrift, the sparkling-water brand he was drinking before eventually getting involved with the company.
Prescott said he's become more intentional about the business opportunities he takes on as he's gotten more involved in that world. At 33 and more than a decade into his NFL career, he's obviously at a different point than Maye.
That's part of what I like about putting these two together. One quarterback is just starting to learn the business side, while the other has already been doing it for years. They ended up making the same bet on Athletic Brewing.
Owning part of the company doesn't mean Maye and Prescott won't be doing the usual endorsement stuff, too.
Both quarterbacks are part of Athletic Brewing's "Athletic Fits" campaign. Maye's spot starts with him throwing the football before the scene turns into a tailgate, while Prescott's ads play off a backyard cookout.
Athletic gets two recognizable NFL quarterbacks promoting its beer, and Maye and Prescott get more out of the deal than whatever they're being paid for the campaign. If the company continues to grow, they have an ownership stake that can grow with it.
There's no way to know yet how good of an investment that will turn out to be. Athletic has grown quickly, but neither quarterback has disclosed enough about his stake to know what kind of money we're talking about.
For Maye, it's an early start in a part of his career he's still learning about. For Prescott, it's another investment to add to a list that keeps getting longer.
Either way, they're not just being paid to sell somebody else's beer. This time, they own part of the company they're selling it for.