Springfield, Massachusetts-based White Lion Brewing has signed a licensing agreement with retired NBA player and UMass Amherst alumnus Marcus Camby to release the first of several collaborative beers.
The first beer, Marcus Camby New England IPA, launched Thursday with a press conference and meet-and-greet with Camby at White Lion’s taproom. White Lion founder and president Ray Berry told Brewbound the release is just the first and collaborations with both Camby and possible other local names.
The partnership was sparked last year during a Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement event at White Lion, organized in collaboration with Springfield-native and former NBA player Travis Best. During the same weekend, a statue of Camby – who spent three seasons at UMass Amherst before entering the NBA – was unveiled on campus, and he asked to co-host the enshrinement event. There, Berry gave Camby a tour of the brewery facilities and conversations began to evolve.
“Marcus was very impressed with what we do and our involvement in the community,” Berry said. “He was also very much intrigued by the story of White Lion being one of only a handful of Black- or Brown-owned breweries, not only in Massachusetts, but throughout the country.”
The two, along with Camby’s business manager Max Etienne, began planning how Camby could help expand White Lion’s consumer base, as well help in efforts to support surrounding communities.
“Marcus believes that the brand story can resonate in other pockets of New England and the tri-state, and he would love to be in a position to utilize his resources and his reach to open up some of those doors,” Berry said. “So we’re trying to expand the conversation and what we’re already doing to enhance the greater good relative to equity, inclusion and diversity.”
The Marcus Camby beer will be available in Massachusetts through White Lion’s distribution network, as well as at UMass athletics events.
White Lion self-distributes its brands, along with several other Massachusetts breweries, including minority-owned Brockton Beer Company (Brockton); 67 Degrees Brewing (Franklin); Brew Practitioners (East Longmeadow); and ArcPoint Brewing (Belchertown).
“Whatever White Lion touches, whether it’s a White Lion portfolio or another local regional beer brand, that’s part of the evolution with Marcus as well,” Berry said. “There’s opportunity where Marcus can come through our community initiatives and speak to the youth or speak to equity and inclusion. That’s what it’s all about: having multiple layers and multiple fronts, because it’s a big world, it’s a big space out there, and every little bit helps to move the needle in the right direction when you’re trying to do good things in the community.”
“I was very interested in what was going on, and not just being the face of the beer, but behind the scenes,” Camby said during Thursday’s event. “I don’t want to speak too prematurely, but we got something going on down the line.”
This is not the first basketball-related collaboration for White Lion. The brewery has previously partnered with the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the AHL Springfield Thunderbirds and MGM Springfield.
White Lion opened in 2014 using contract brewing, before opening its production facility in October 2020. In the summer of 2021, it opened its taproom and kitchen, after about a year of COVID-19-related delays. Berry said the brewery produced more than 1,000 barrels in 2021 – an increase from 950 barrels in 2020, according to estimates from the Brewers Association.
In 2022, White Lion plans to increase its salesforce in Massachusetts, and add distribution in Connecticut – a move that will likely be helped by its partnership with Camby, a Connecticut native.