The inaugural season for San Diego’s SD Loyal soccer club got back in swing with an away game on July 11 followed by a pair of home matches last week. During those contests, the team donned uniforms bearing the iconic gargoyle mascot of Escondido-based Stone Brewing. It’s the most overt aspect of the franchise’s partnership with San Diego’s second-largest brewing company, and one the new team in town actively sought.
“Loyalty for us starts at home and we wanted to reunite with local partners that exemplified the same values,” says the club’s Director of Marketing Jesse Beltran. “Stone Brewing is a company we look up to for what they’ve done in terms of business, but more importantly, in our community. We’re proud to wear them across our chest. Plus, the gargoyle is a really cool look for a jersey.”
But there’s more to this partnership than sharp-looking threads, namely beer. Stone beer will be on tap on the Loyal’s home turf, USD’s Torero Stadium, as it was earlier this season. That site also features a 20-foot gargoyle to protect the pitch much in the way co-founders Steve Wagner and Greg Koch have long proclaimed its mascot wards off cheap ingredients, pasteurization and chemical additives; what they call, the “modern-day evil spirits of beer.” That looming figure can be seen during matches televised on CW San Diego or streamed via ESPN+.
“It is enormously exciting, as I honestly never thought I would see the day. Most major-league sports sponsorships are out of reach financially for craft brewers and not necessarily compatible with the grass-roots, DIY ethic that is synonymous with craft beer,” says Wagner. “This feels like a really good fit for us as we have a lot of passionate soccer fans at Stone who are thrilled to see our gargoyle and name on the SD Loyal jerseys.”
Wagner credits the Loyal’s ownership for making an honest effort to team with local businesses and organizations versus “chasing the biggest check.” Understanding how significant the local beer industry is to San Diego County and its economy, the team approached the San Diego Brewers Guild, who then directed them to Stone. At the same time, Stone’s marketing team was discussing how much they would like to find a way to partner with San Diego’s new soccer club. Wagner says their subsequent teaming was meant to be.
Due to the pandemic, the partnership is more limited than the Loyal and Stone would like. Both factions are eager to get back to having fans in the stands with beers in their hands, and hosting watch parties at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station as they had prior to the “new normal.”
“It’s too bad we only had one home game before COVID-19 because the Stone experience there was really something, with people waving Strone flags throughout the stands, and Stone and other local craft beers available around every corner,” says Wagner, who is an avid soccer fan himself.
But for now, it’s just nice to have players back on the pitch. “At this point, we’re just excited to be back to playing soccer,” says Beltran. “The coaching staff and our players have been very eager to continue our inaugural season in order to give our community something special to look forward to.”