San Francisco Pride loses $300,000 as companies including Comcast and Diageo reevaluate sponsorships

Yahoo

20-03-2025

SF Pride will lose at least $300,000 in sponsorships from major companies for this year's event.
Sponsors cited local budget constraints for their reduced support in 2025, SF Pride exec says.
NYC Pride said partners are also scaling back visibility or reassessing their spending on the event.
San Francisco Pride is set to lose $300,000 in sponsorships for this year's celebration.
Five corporate sponsors, including major companies Comcast, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Diageo, notified the directors of SF Pride that they would no longer be funding one of the biggest pride celebrations in the US, local news outlet KTVU was the first to report last Thursday.
The multi-day event is set to kick off on June 28, and it costs about $3.2 million to host the more than one million attendees it attracts, SF Pride executive director Suzanne Ford told Business Insider. Ford said she is expected to raise $2.3 million in sponsorships for the 2025 Pride budget over the fiscal year.
"When we talk about the cost of putting this on, a lot of that money goes back to the queer community. A lot of people benefit from the money spent on Pride weekend," Ford said.
The organization adopted a community partner model that allows local groups to staff events and be paid through grants, vendors are able to rent spaces to sell food, beverages, or art, and nonprofits can march in the parade for a "nominal fee."
Each of the companies, some of which had worked with SF Pride for years, cited budget constraints for why they could no longer sponsor the event, Ford said.
According to sources close to the company, Diageo will still be "activating" around San Francisco for Pride and will be sponsoring Long Beach Pride. A representative for Comcast told BI the media giant plans to support Pride celebrations in Oakland, Silicon Valley, and Sacramento. AB InBev did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
Major cities across the US host Pride parades in the warmer months and attract millions of attendees. New York City, home to the biggest Pride celebration in the US, is also at risk of losing support from past partners as their June 29 parade approaches.
"We're also seeing partners maintain their financial support but minimize visibility at our events, while others are scaling back budgets and delaying decision-making," a spokesperson for New York City Pride told BI.
However, the spokesperson said, many partners have doubled down on their support during this "volatile political environment." Neither SF Pride nor any of the former sponsors mentioned anti-DEI as a reason for the withdrawal of their funding. Still, the current wave of companies restructuring their DEI programs and policies isn't lost on Pride executives.
Anti-DEI sentiment by the Trump government "has made the "environment worse for companies that want to support us," Ford said.
AB InBev-owned Bud Light was embroiled in controversy in 2023 after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a photo of the beer. Conservative consumers responded strongly, leading to executives taking leaves of absence and boycotts that hurt sales.
In 2024, tractor maker John Deere backed down from DEI initiatives after receiving backlash from conservatives online alleging the company encouraged employees to put their pronouns in their email signatures.
In response, John Deere announced that it would "no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events," in a post to X.
There's a level of risk that comes with vocally showing support, Ford said, including "negative press."
By highlighting those who have pulled back, both NYC Pride and SF Pride said they're hoping it will encourage potential sponsors to step forward. The San Francisco International Airport, for example is a new sponsor for the city's 2025 Pride celebration, Ford said.
Read the original article on Business Insider