Brewhouse of the Rising Sun — Tom Benson Reconstructs a Monument...

...in the Age of Craft Iconoclasts

Article Link

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Louisiana boasts strong “tied house” laws prohibiting brewers from inducing retailers, directly or indirectly, to purchase any of their products at the exclusion of others. Because of this, some brewers are wary of Benson as both a brewery owner and as a professional sports franchise owner. More specifically, they’re concerned that by virtue of his myriad business interests, he may have unfair pull to get his beers stocked, at the illicit expense of other products, in his two teams’ home stadiums.

“Like, duh, right?” says one high-level Louisiana beer industry executive speaking on condition of anonymity. “You know, really there’s a lot of smoke there that would be an issue."

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At the foundation of their suspicions brewers point to the fact that soon after the sale, Dixie beer quickly found hard-to-earn placement in both arenas, providing massive exposure for the brand and gaining sales that other local breweries only dream of. Furthermore, the arrival of Dixie also coincided with what one source close to the matter suggests was a significant exodus of Abita Brewing products from the two stadiums. (Anecdotally speaking, this wasn’t lost on consumers either, as many took to social media to comment on the apparent swap.)...

...“I would say it’s just a picture,” says Kirk Coco, founder of NOLA Brewing and president of the Louisiana Brewers Guild. “That even though there may not be anything wrong, it makes it look like something is going on, and that can be bad enough for our industry. If they’re carrying Dixie, which is a Memphis-made beer that has ties to New Orleans, you’d think they’d be carrying other New Orleans beers…. It’s definitely a little off putting.”

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The article goes on to discuss some Katrina stuff and statue removal stuff, but I'm more interested in the first part of the article. It does seem that Dixie is straddling the line on tied housing the Dome and arena and that the ATC doesn't give a shite about that, yet they care about food trucks at breweries.