• by Steve Ellwanger , February 13, 2023

Energy drink brand Nerd Focus has added the New Jersey Devils hockey team and the Prudential Center arena to its roster of sports partnerships as it continues to expand national distribution.

“We were contacted by the Devils several months ago and were immediately excited about the prospects of signing with them,” Rocco LaVista, co-founder and COO of Nerd Focus parent Beverage USA, tells Marketing Daily.

As part of the partnership, Nerd Focus will be the presenting partner of the T-Shirt Toss—an in-arena activation at all Devils' home games, when the team’s Devils Woo Crew throws co-branded T-shirts to fans.

The brand will also be the presenting partner of “Devil in Focus,” launching across the Devils' social platforms, in which fans vote for which player they want to see spotlighted during a segment of the pregame live show.

Nerd Focus—whose claim to differentiation is its infusion with herbs called adaptogens and cognitive enhancers known as nootropics— s also the official energy drink of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships and the mixed-martial arts Flex Fights.

“We are also very close to finalizing official and exclusive agreements with two other major sports organizations,” says LaVista.

One is in the National Basketball Association and the other in Major League Baseball.

“We’re hoping to make those formal announcements within the next few weeks.”

Given that Nerd Focus is in the midst of a full-scale launch in the New Jersey and New York City metropolitan area, the Devils’ partnership “will really help to bolster Nerd Focus sales and brand awareness throughout the territory.”

In 2006, University of Texas at San Antonio student Vin Montes created Nerd Focus as an alternative to traditional energy drinks while studying his way to medical school.

Beverage USA acquired the brand in 2020.