Budweiser Clydesdales Won't Be in Super Bowl Commercials This Year

During the annual Super Bowl, almost as many people tune in to watch the commercials as they do to watch the game. The Budweiser Clydesdales usually appear in the Super Bowl commercials, but not this year.

After three decades, Budweiser's parent company Anheuser-Busch relinquished its exclusivity as the Super Bowl’s only beer advertiser, USA Today reports. The company will still have commercials in the big game, but the famous Clydesdales won’t be in any of them.

According to the Clydesdale Breeders of the USA, a purebred Clydesdale horse is worth between $2,500 and $5,000. However, the value of one of the horses on the Budweiser team can be worth much more because of their fame and training. A Budweiser Clydesdale could be worth at least $15,000, if not more, reports Best Horse Rider.

Clydesdales are workhorses that originated in the Clydesdale region of Scotland. In 1933, Budweiser’s team of Clydesdales made their first public appearance as a gift to August Anheuser Busch Sr. from his sons August Jr. and Adolphus in celebration of the repeal of Prohibition.

Clydesdale horses have been representing the Budweiser brand for over 40 years. The company currently owns about 250 horses. There are three teams of Budweiser Clydesdales that tour internationally for about 10 months out of the year.

The Budweiser Clydesdales have been appearing in Super Bowl commercials since 1986. In 2021, Budweiser chose not to run an ad in the game and donated the ad dollars for COVID-19 vaccine awareness, the Sporting News reports. However, the horses were back in the commercial during the 2022 Super Bowl.

Many horses are kept at the Budweiser Clydesdale Stables at Grant’s Farm located outside of St. Louis, while more than half are housed at the Warm Springs Ranch breeding facility near Boonville, Missouri.

Not just any Clydesdale horse can be a Budweiser Clydesdale. To make the team, the horse must be at least four years old, 18 hands tall, weigh between 1,800 and 2,300 pounds, and be bay in color with four white stocking feet and a white blaze on its face. All Budweiser Clydesdales on the hitches are geldings, which are male horses that have been castrated.

Yes, the Clydesdales that don’t make the cut to be a Budweiser Clydesdale are sometimes sold in private sales. The horse may not have the right coloring to be part of the Budweiser hitch team. The Budweiser hitch teams also have a “no girls” policy.

The Budweiser Clydesdales won’t appear in the Super Bowl commercials this year but they have another event to attend that day. Budweiser is holding a special Football and Foals party on Super Bowl Sunday to welcome four Clydesdale foals who were born recently at the Warm Springs Ranch. For $100, attendees can meet the new foals, watch the Super Bowl, and enjoy appetizers, dinner, and beer. Tickets to the event are already sold out.