Special Report

32 Sports Stars With Their Own Alcohol Brands

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Celebrities in the entertainment world have associated themselves with alcoholic beverages pretty much since the advent of mass media. Athletes have as well, mostly as pitchmen (or -women) for beer. With the increasing popularity of spirits and the enduring appeal of wine, however,  athletes who see themselves as a brand unto themselves are aligning with high-end products in these areas to project an air of sophistication.

To assemble a list of sports stars with their own wine or liquor brands (and occasionally both), 24/7 Tempo consulted sites including Wine Searcher, Wine Spectator, Clubhouse, and Golfers’ Wines, as well as numerous individual winery sites.

The levels of involvement in these ventures vary. Some athletes actually own wineries or distilleries and are sometimes actively involved in production. Some are investing in a brand. Others are basically making a deal with an existing facility to bottle under a line of products under their name. (Here are 24 celebrities with their own wine brands.)

Click here to see 32 sports stars with their own wine or liquor brands

South African golfers Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, and David Frost have all become involved in their home country’s well-respected wine industry. Whereas Els and Goosen created wine brands, Frost’s family has been involved in the wine business for generations. Wine is also the business beverage of choice for American golfing greats Greg Norman and the late Arnold Palmer, as well as LPGA star Cristie Kerr. 

Jeff Gordon, Danica Patrick, and Mario Andretti are among the auto racers who’ve made big business in the grapes on the vine. NBA superstars LeBron James and Michael Jordan see big-money potential in tequila. And speaking of all-time greats, other iconic names who successfully transitioned into the business of making and selling potent potables include Wayne Gretzky of the National Hockey League, John Elway and Terry Bradshaw of the National Football League, and the late Tom Seaver of Major League Baseball. (These are the 100 highest-paid athletes in America.)

Mario Andretti
> Sport: Auto racing
> Brand: Andretti Winery

Mario Andretti was named the driver of the century by the Associated Press in 2000. He won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Formula One World Championship, and the IndyCar National Championship four times. After he retired from racing in 1994, he established the Andretti Winery in Napa Valley in 1996 with Joe Antonini, former CEO of Kmart – a sponsor from Andretti’s racing days.

[in-text-ad]

Sam Greenwood / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Abraham Ancer
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: Flecha Azul Tequila

Mexican-born golfer Abraham Ancer has been steadily improving his performance on the PGA Tour. He had nine top-10 finishes that included a victory at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Ancer has partnered with actor Mark Wahlberg and Aron Marquez, a tool company executive from Mexico whom Ancer met at the Fort Worth Invitational in 2018, to create Flecha Azul Tequila.

Stephen Dunn / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Drew Bledsoe
> Sport: Football
> Brand: Doubleback Winery

Drew Bledsoe is the answer to the trivia question Who did Tom Brady replace at quarterback for the New England Patriots in 2001? The four-time Pro Bowler retired in 2007 and returned to his hometown of Walla Walla, Washington to start his estate vineyard, McQueen. He and his wife, Maura, launched the winery, Doubleback, in 2008, with ambitions to make a world-class cabernet sauvignon. The first vintage was named a Wine Spectator Top 100 Wine of the World.

Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Ian Botham
> Sport: Cricket
> Brand: Sir Ian Botham Wines

Famed English cricketer Ian Botham was introduced to wine when he was 17 by noted English journalist John Arlott, author and cricket commentator for the BBC’s Test Match Special. That developed his passion for wine that led to his founding his line of wines with friends Bob Willis and Geoff Merrill. Their first vintage came out in 2001 and his first full range in 2018. Many of the wines come from various regions of Australia, though there are also some from New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. (Botham also lends his name to a London dry gin called 22 Yards – which happens to be the length of a cricket pitch.)

[in-text-ad-2]

Jamie Squire / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Terry Bradshaw
> Sport: Football
> Brand: Bradshaw Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw is one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, with four Super Bowl victories. He launched Bradshaw Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in 2020. His bourbon was rated among the “15 excellent wines and spirits with celebrities at the helm” by Forbes.

Scott Halleran / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Ernie Els
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: Els Wines

Two of South Africa’s most famous exports are its wines and Ernie Els, who has won four Majors golf titles and two World Golf Championships. Over the course of his golfing career, he developed a passion for fine wine, and in 1999, Els created Ernie Els Wines. He selected the renowned wine-growing region of Stellenbosch to base his business.

[in-text-ad]

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

John Elway
> Sport: Football
> Brand: 7 Cellars Wine

Following on the success of his chain of steakhouses, two-time Super Bowl champion John Elway founded 7 Cellars Wine in Napa Valley with business partner Jeff Sperbeck and winemaker Rob Mondavi (the “7” references Elway’s football jersey number). Their first vintages were a 2013 cabernet and a 2014 chardonnay. In March 2020, they expanded their range to include the “Farm Collection” – a reference to Stanford University (nicknamed “the Farm”), where he played college ball.

Rob Carr / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Nick Faldo
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: Nick Faldo Wine

English golfer Nick Faldo, with six Majors championships and a No. 1 ranking for 98 weeks in his storied career, launched Nick Faldo Wine in 2000. Based in the Coonawarra region of South Australia, the winery produces sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, and shiraz.

Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

David Frost
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: David Frost Wine

Another South African golfer with a line of wines is David Frost. He is not a Johnny-come-lately to the business. He and his family have been in the wine business for 60 years. Frost used the money he earned picking grapes to buy his first set of clubs and balls. In 1994, he purchased a 300-acre vineyard in the Paarl wine region of South Africa and produced his first cases of cabernet sauvignon in 1997.

[in-text-ad-2]

Christian Fuchs
> Sport: Soccer
> Brand: NoFuchsGiven

Premier League champion soccer player Christian Fuchs created a line of liquors including vodka, gin, and rum, all distilled in England. Fuchs has also leveraged his NoFuchsGiven brand to start a line of clothing and a video series on soccer. The website says NoFuchsGiven “is more than a brand. It is a lifestyle choice … Breaking away from society’s norms.”

Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Retief Goosen
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: The Goose Wines

Retief Goosen is one of the best golfers over the past 25 years, winning two U.S. Open Championships and being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Goosen is another South African athlete who’s capitalized on his nation’s well-regarded wine reputation. Goose Wines is located in the Upper Langkloof Valley in the Garden Route of South Africa. The first vintage of what is known as the Goose Expression was a 2005 blend of equal parts cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.

[in-text-ad]

Jerry Markland / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Jeff Gordon
> Sport: Auto racing
> Brand: Jeff Gordon Cellars

Racing fans know Jeff Gordon as the man who won the Nascar Cup Series four times. However, he’s also producing red wines from Napa Valley. Along with partner winemakers August “Joe” Briggs and Jesse Inman, Jeff Gordon Cellars released its first wine, a Carneros chardonnay, in 2005.

Codie McLachlan / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Wayne Gretzky
> Sport: Hockey
> Brand: Wayne Gretzky Estates

Wayne Gretzky is the greatest player in hockey history, holding 61 NHL records to go along with his four Stanley Cup triumphs. When he was growing up in Ontario, Gretzky picked grapes that his grandfather used to make homemade wine. That instilled a love for wine in him, and he eventually created his own collection. In 2017, he opened the Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery and Distillery in Niagara-on-the-Lake wine country in Ontario. His beverage empire also includes a whisky.

Stephen Dunn / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Terry Hoage
> Sport: Football
> Brand: TH Estates Vineyards

Defensive back Terry Hoage, who won a Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins in 1992, and his wife Jennifer founded TH Estates Vineyards in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles, California. They focus on the production of Rhône-style wines. The first two vintages of TH wines in 2002 and 2003 were made by Justin Smith of Saxum Vineyards,Terry Hoage’s wine mentor.

[in-text-ad-2]

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

LeBron James
> Sport: Basketball
> Brand: Lobos Tequila

LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball players ever, having scored the second-most points of any player in history. He’s been the NBA’s MVP four times and he led the Miami Heat to NBA titles in 2012 and 2013, and the Cleveland Cavaliers to the championship in 2016. James’ business interests include television series production, deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, and Verizon. He extended his business portfolio by investing in Lobos Tequila in 2020.

Mike Stobe / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Derek Jeter
> Sport: Baseball
> Brand: Bespoken Spirits

Along with Silicon Valley entrepreneur T. J. Rodgers, Hall-of-Fame Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter became an early investor in Bespoken Spirits – because, he said, he’s “committed to partnering with innovative companies that disrupt the status quo in a positive way.” Jeter first met Stu Aaron, the co-founder of Bespoken along with Martin Janousek, when the five-time World Series was starting The Players’ Tribune media platform. The company produces rum and several types of whiskey.

[in-text-ad]

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

Michael Jordan
> Sport: Basketball
> Brand: Cincoro Tequila

Michael Jordan is on the short list of the greatest basketball players of all time. After winning an NCAA basketball championship, “Air Jordan” shifted to the NBA and won the league scoring title a record 10 times, including seven consecutive years. and also racked up five six NBA titles. He is also the majority owner of the Carolina Hornets, and he jumped into the tequila business with four other NBA owners to create a super-premium tequila brand called Cincoro Tequila. “Cincoro” is a portmanteau of the Spanish words, “cinco” and “oro” – meaning “five” and “gold.”

Scott Halleran / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Cristie Kerr
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: Curvature Wines, Kerr Cellars

Cristie Kerr is the third highest-earning LPGA Tour player of all time, trailing only Annika Sörenstam and Karrie Webb. Among her 20 tour victories are the 2007 U.S Women’s Open, and the 2010 Women’s PGA Championship. Kerr said her passion for wine began when she competed in a tournament in Napa Valley in 2000. In 2007, she partnered with Pride Mountain Vineyard owner Suzanne Pride Bryan to produce a line of Curvature Wines, dedicated to raising money to help fight breast cancer. In 2013, she and partner Erik Stevens launched a second enterprise, Kerr Cellars, with winemaker Helen Keplinger.

Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Brian Laudrup
> Sport: Soccer
> Brand: Laudrup Dry Gin, Laudrup Rosé

Brian Laudrup is a Danish former soccer player whose career was cut short by injuries, though he did play on two Danish champion teams in the 1980s as well as other European clubs. Laudrup lived in Scotland for four years and appreciated the craft of making distilled liquor. He set out to create his own dry gin, combining Scottish craftsmanship and traditional ingredients with the flavor of rhubarb, a favorite in Danish desserts. “For our family, it was essential this was a premium product infused with elements from both nations,” he said on his website.

[in-text-ad-2]

Courtesy of Lewis Cellars via Yelp

Randy Lewis
> Sport: Auto racing
> Brand: Lewis Cellars

Randy Lewis was a professional race car driver for 23 years. He ran in five Indy 500s where he qualified on the fourth row three times with a best finish of 13th. While racing in Europe he discovered a love for local wines and lifestyles. He and his wife Debbie established a family winery in Napa Valley in 1992. They were joined by their son Dennis seven years later. They produce about 9,000 cases of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc a year.

Jeff Gross / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Yao Ming
> Sport: Basketball
> Brand: Yao Family Wines

Yao Ming became the first Chinese-born player to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Yao made eight All-Star teams, averaged 19 points and nine rebounds, and was named to the All-NBA team five times. After he retired, Yao opened his Napa Valley winery, and it has created cabernets and its reserve was lauded by The Wine Advocate.

[in-text-ad]

Jonathan Daniel / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Rick Mirer
> Sport: Football
> Brand: Mirror Napa Valley

Rick Mirer played quarterback for Notre Dame and then played professionally for five teams. As an actor, he appeared in the hit “Jerry Maguire.” Mirer developed his passion for wine when he played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders. In 2008, he opened his Mirror Napa Valley winery, releasing two cabernets among other wines.

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Greg Norman
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: Greg Norman Estates

Also known as “The Shark,” Australian-born golfer Greg Norman won more than 90 tournaments, including two British Open Championships. In 2001, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 1996, he founded Greg Norman Estates, a collection of wines from California, New Zealand, and Australia that has earned plaudits from Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast.

Andy Lyons / Getty Images

Arnold Palmer
> Sport: Golf
> Brand: Arnold Palmer Wine

Arnold Palmer’s common-man personality, charisma, and success raised golf’s popularity to new heights in the 1950s and ’60s. He won 92 tournaments, including seven Majors. Mike Moone founded Luna Winery in Napa Valley in 1996 and Palmer invested in it. Moone had met Palmer during a previous role as president of Beringer Winery. Luna began producing an Arnold Palmer Red and eventually launched a full Arnold Palmer Wines range.

[in-text-ad-2]

Robert Laberge / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Danica Patrick
> Sport: Auto racing
> Brand: Somnium Vineyard

Danica Patrick is one of only two women to ever complete both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Her win at the 2008 Indy Japan 300 marked the first time a woman had ever won an IndyCar Series Race. She fell in love with the Napa Valley in the early 2000s after dining there at the French Laundry, and winemaker Aaron Pott later showed her around and advised her when she bought land there and created her Somnium (Latin for “dream”) brand. A cabernet sauvignon was her first wine.

Chris Trotman / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Mike Piazza
> Sport: Baseball
> Brand: True Vodka

Mike Piazza is regarded as the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history. The Hall-of-Famer hit 427 home runs, 396 as a catcher, the most by any player at that position, and had a lifetime batting average of .308. In 2020, Piazza launched True Vodka, whose ingredients of mixed rye and wheat grains are from Italy, tapping into Piazza’s Italian heritage.

[in-text-ad]

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Scottie Pippen
> Sport: Basketball
> Brand: Digits Bourbon

Scottie Pippen played 17 seasons in the NBA and was a small forward on the Chicago Bulls, helping them win six NBA titles. Digits Bourbon – with the image of Pipen’s hand on the bottle – is a collaboration between Pippen and Savage & Cooke distillery, which is owned by Napa Valley winemaker Dave Phinney. The mature bourbon, aged for five years, is bottled at 92 proof.

Alex Trautwig / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Andy Roddick & Peyton Manning
> Sport: Tennis/football
> Brand: Sweetens Cove Bourbon

Former tennis pro Andy Roddick and NFL Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning collaborated on the soft launch of Sweetens Cove Bourbon in 2020, selling all 13,500 bottles in Georgia and Kentucky alone. Encouraged by that response, they released 50,000 bottles during the Cotton Bowl golf tournament in May 2021, expanding throughout Texas, Colorado, and Louisiana. Sweetens Cove Bourbon is distilled and aged in Tennessee and blended in Texas by master distiller Marianne Eaves.

Jim McIsaac / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Tom Seaver
> Sport: Baseball
> Brand: Seaver Vineyards

After pitcher Tom Seaver authored a Hall-of-Fame career by winning 311 games and three Cy Young Awards and reversing the fortunes of baseball’s laughingstock New York Mets, he became one of the first former baseball players to create his own vineyard – in his case in his home state of California. The vineyard produces cabernet sauvignon in limited quantities.

[in-text-ad-2]

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

Dwyane Wade
> Sport: Basketball
> Brand: Wade Cellars

Dwyane Wade spent most of his 16-year NBA career with the Miami Heat, winning three NBA championships and was a 13-time NBA All-Star. Wade Cellars is a partnership between Wade and the noted winemaking Pahlmeyer family created, in 2014. The stated mission of Wade Cellars is it “strives to make the wine industry more inclusive to people of all backgrounds consciously growing production and creating opportunities for access and education to all those who choose to indulge in this affordable luxury.”

Andy Lyons / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Charles Woodson
> Sport: Football
> Brand: Woodson Whiskey, Intercept Winery

Charles Woodson has won a college football national title with the University of Michigan, the Heisman Trophy, and a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers, and is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. Woodson launched his Woodson Bourbon Whiskey in 2021. It is his first craft spirit and it was finished in the same French oak wine barrels used in the winemaking process of the Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon produced for his Intercept Winery.

 

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.