Athletic Brewing grew store by store, then used its site for the extras.
Most of its sales come from grocery and liquor stores. Its own site sells online-only brews and a $29 club.
BLOOM10X did not work with Athletic Brewing. This breakdown uses public sources only, linked below.
- 2017Bill Shufelt and John Walker start brewing
- 2018Whole Foods in Connecticut, then Total Wine
- Fall 2022Keurig Dr Pepper buys in near a $500M valuation
- Jul 2024$50M round, about $800M valuation
- 2024$86.7M in store sales in 11 months
- Sep 2026NFL quarterbacks join as athlete-owners
Grocery carries the business.
Barrels sold and room to grow
How Athletic reaches drinkers
Five plays behind the growth.
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Sample by hand, then win one grocer
In 2018 Athletic landed several Whole Foods stores in Connecticut, then a first national order from Total Wine (Forbes, Feb 2023). Shufelt says they sampled almost 10,000 people that first summer.
Copy this: pick one regional chain, staff in-store demos for a season, and take the sell-through data to the next buyer.
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Own a month of the year
January is Athletic’s best sales month, so it renamed Dry January “Athletic January”: a multi-million dollar push with TV, podcasts, creators and a $5 rebate in stores for drinkers 21+ (Brewbound, Jan 2025).
Copy this: find the month your category peaks and put a name, an offer and most of the budget on it.
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Make athletes owners, not just faces
Drake Maye and Dak Prescott joined as “athlete-owners” on Sep 9, 2026 (PR Newswire). Their spots now run as partnership ads from their own handles, such as “drake.maye with Athletic Brewing Company”.
Copy this: give your best ambassadors a stake or long contract, and run their content from their handles. Partnership ads guide →
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Use the website for what stores can’t sell
Ads push “brews you can’t always find in stores”. The $29 Athletic Club drops limited and pilot six-packs from $14.99 to $10.99, with a four-pack minimum (athleticbrewing.com, Nov 10, 2026).
Copy this: if retail carries your core range, make your site the home of limited drops and a paid membership. Retention →
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A collab brew for every news cycle
Recent limited brews were made with Graza, Arsenal, Vans Warped Tour and the Premier Lacrosse League, each with its own press release (PR Newswire, 2025–2026). The Graza beer sells online only, while supplies last.
Copy this: pair a limited product with a brand your buyers already love, and sell it only on your site.
The $29 club, annotated.
- 1The biggest number first“Save up to 25%”, then “plus free shipping & free glass”.
- 2A small yearly fee“Join for only $29”, renewing each year until cancelled.
- 3Shipping, crossed out$4.99 struck through to FREE, with a four six-pack minimum.
- 4A gift with a price tagA members glass, $17.00 struck through.
- 5The value stack$50.99 crossed out to $29, on the first order only.
- 6One button“Join the club & save” in the brand’s yellow.
Our math on the club
| Order | Non-member | Member | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four six-packs |
Our math: four six-packs at $14.99 or $10.99, × orders, rounded to the dollar. “Saved” does not subtract the $29 yearly fee or add the first-order glass.
Copy this on your own store
- Stack the club’s value in dollars, then show the one price they pay. Conversion
- Set a minimum order that lifts the basket, and tie free shipping to it. Raise AOV
- Show the payback: “Pays for itself in 2 orders”.
- Keep one offer per page; two minimums on one page confuse buyers.
Athletes on their own handles.
“Athletic Steals the Spotlight”
- Runs as “drake.maye with Athletic Brewing Company”, started Nov 2, 2026.
- The joke: fans praise the beer, not the quarterback.
- Links to the full shop, not a single product.
“Try the Athletic brews you can’t always find in stores.”
- Started Aug 20, 2026: limited releases and best sellers online.
- Free shipping on $50 or more.
- Sells the site as a complement to the store shelf.
“Get Our Welcome Offer”
- Started Oct 13, 2026, with terms linked in the ad text.
- Lands on /pages/welcome: 20% off and free shipping on four packs.
- The one ad in the set built only for first orders.
“Good music. Great deal.”
- Started Oct 15, 2026: 50% off at one Florida amphitheatre, $5.50 a can.
- No link: the goal is a sale at the venue’s bar.
- Paid social used to sell through a retail partner.
Meta Ad Library exact-phrase search “athletic brewing”, active US ads, Nov 10, 2026: about 72 results.
How an athlete-owner ad is built.
- 1Two names in the header“Dak Prescott with Athletic Brewing Company” lands as the athlete’s post.
- 2The twist in the caption“Spotting Dak Prescott at your crew’s BBQ? Impressive. Finding out there’s more Athletic … Even better.”
- 3MisdirectionPer the launch release, guests seem to gush over the star, then rush past him to the cooler.
- 4A soft ask“See details” to the full shop, headline “The Coolest Party Guest”.
Our wireframe, built from ad 1484040213619412 in the Meta Ad Library and the Sep 9, 2026 release describing the campaign. Not a copy of the ad.
Three Athletic videos.
“We’re building off a great foundation, but we’re not out here buying Super Bowl ads too. It is very brick-by-brick.”
“We probably sampled almost 10,000 people that first summer and built a huge community of direct fans.”
Read it with three caveats.
- It isn’t a DTC story. Stores carry most revenue; the site is a side door for extras and fans.
- It took real capital. At least $223.5M raised and its own breweries on both coasts.
- Beer has rules. Its brews don’t ship to 7 states, per its own FAQ; only the merch ships everywhere.
- What we’d do differently: fix the welcome page so one minimum appears, and test the club price against a plain first-order discount.
Six moves for a $1M–$10M brand.
- Run partnership ads from your ambassadors’ own handles. Partnership ads guide
- Give your site a job retail can’t do: drops, bundles, a club. Shopify development
- Check the margin on retail before the first big order. Contribution margin calculator
- Put your biggest push on the month your category peaks. Meta ads
- Raise first-order value with a minimum tied to free shipping. Raise AOV
- Answer “where to buy” and “what is it” questions in short videos. AI search
Where every number comes from.
- Justin Kendall, “Athletic Brewing Posts ‘Biggest Dollar Growth Year’ Heading into 2025, Launches ‘Athletic January’,” Brewbound, Jan 7, 2025. brewbound.com
- Steven Bertoni, “Inside Athletic Brewing’s Plan To Make Boozeless Beer A Billion-Dollar Business,” Forbes, Feb 15, 2023. forbes.com
- Mattea Vecera, “Athletic Brewing Company Doubles Its Valuation After Latest Financing Round,” Inc., Jul 9, 2024. inc.com
- Zoe Licata, “Athletic Brewing Expected to be Top 15 Craft Brewery by 2024,” Brewbound, Mar 28, 2023. brewbound.com
- “Drake Maye and Dak Prescott Join Athletic Brewing Company as Athlete-Owners,” PR Newswire, Sep 9, 2026. prnewswire.com
- “Athletic Brewing Launches Largest-Ever Summer Campaign,” PR Newswire, May 20, 2026. prnewswire.com
- Athletic Brewing Company press releases, 2024–2026 (collabs and partnerships). prnewswire.com
- athleticbrewing.com home page, Athletic Club page and welcome page, viewed on mobile Nov 10, 2026. athleticbrewing.com/pages/athletic-club-membership
- Meta Ad Library, exact phrase “athletic brewing”, active US ads, viewed Nov 10, 2026. facebook.com/ads/library
- Athletic Brewing Company, official YouTube channel (@AthleticBrewing), videos dated May 1 to Nov 10, 2026. youtube.com/@AthleticBrewing
