Sausage partnerships are always newsworthy in Milwaukee, and on Tuesday we got a link-up reunion. Klement’s, once again, will be the official and exclusive hot dog, brat and sausage of the Bucks and the new arena, the organizations announced Tuesday inside the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center.
As part of the five-year agreement, locally based Klement Sausage Company will serve products throughout the new arena and offer venue-specific items that won’t be available anywhere else.
"We’re thrilled that Klement’s, a Milwaukee favorite, will be an integral part of the delicious food experience at our new world-class venue," said Bucks President Peter Feigin. "Klement’s shares our vision for delivering the best authentic local offerings to our guests."
Klement’s and the Bucks had been partners until the 2014-15 season, when the team signed a three-year deal with Usinger’s Famous Sausage. But now the two are back together again.
"We have a long history with the Bucks, so this is a homecoming of sorts for us," Klement’s President and CEO Tom Danneker said. "Our goal has always been to invest in events and organizations that are important in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. Given the excitement around the Bucks and the new arena, there is no better partnership for Klement’s than with the Milwaukee Bucks."
Klement’s products will be served throughout the WESC at each of the main concession stands, as well as at two portable locations in the arena. The sausage supplier will work with WESC Senior Executive Chef Kenneth Hardiman and food and beverage provider Levy to create craft sausages and unique offerings only available to fans inside the venue.
As the exclusive hot dog, brat and sausage of the Bucks and the new arena, Klement’s will also be the title sponsor of Milwaukee Mondays, the popular series that celebrates local music, art and community during Monday home games throughout the season. In addition, the Bucks and Klement’s will have interactive fan activations during games at the WESC.
The partnership is a marketing boost for Klement’s, which was looking to reinvest in the local community – and sports landscape – and had newly available resources to commit.
Tuesday’s news comes less than four months after Klement’s was replaced as the Milwaukee Brewers’ official sausage, and sponsor of the Famous Racing Sausages, by Johnsonville. The latest local sausage swap is also a month after Klement’s linked up with Summerfest on a 10-year agreement.
Feigin and the Bucks have said publicly that the new arena, and surrounding entertainment district, will heavily feature local brands, and the Klement’s deal follows February's high-profile announcement of Miller Brewing Co. as a founding partner. Established in Milwaukee in 1956 by brothers John, George and Ron Klement, Klement’s Sausage Company employs more than 350 people at its two South Side manufacturing plants.
The new arena, which is about 90 percent complete, is scheduled to open in September.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
