Johnsonville has signed on as an official partner of the Joe Moore Award, the only major college football honor recognizing collective offensive line performance rather than an individual player — a brand alignment the Wisconsin-based sausage maker is framing around shared tailgate culture and its growing stadium distribution network.
The partnership, announced ahead of the 2026 college football season, positions Johnsonville alongside an award now in its 12th year. Founded by Notre Dame All-American and College Football Hall of Famer Aaron Taylor and named for legendary offensive line coach Joe Moore, the award is decided by a voting committee of former linemen, O-line coaches, NFL talent evaluators, and media analysts who review game tape weekly throughout the season. The trophy itself — a seven-foot, 800-pound bronze monument sculpted by Jerry McKenna — is the largest in college football.
Stadium Reach as the Real Play
For Johnsonville, the sponsorship is as much a foodservice and venue play as it is a marketing move. The company already supplies sausage to more than 75 U.S. professional, semi-pro, and college sports stadiums across 80-plus product varieties — making college football a core consumption occasion for the brand. Aligning with a team-based award deepens that presence in the collegiate channel at a moment when stadium concessionaires and food-and-beverage operators are competing aggressively for brand partnerships that resonate with game-day crowds.
Ryan Pociask, President of Johnsonville's U.S. Business, pointed to the shared values of collective effort as central to the deal. "The same is true of offensive line play," Pociask said. "O-linemen do the heavy lifting without asking for the glory. Becoming an official partner of the Joe Moore Award to celebrate college football's unsung heroes is a natural fit."
Aaron Taylor, the award's founder and a CBS Sports analyst, echoed that framing: "Whether it's five players working together as a unit to move someone against their will or five friends standing around the grill swapping stories, it's a shared experience that defines our community."
Season Timeline and Visibility
Beginning August 26, weekly updates on offensive line performance will air on "The Joe Moore Award Show," a series hosted by Taylor on the award's YouTube channel — giving Johnsonville ongoing branded visibility throughout the regular season. At season's end, the award will be delivered via a surprise on-campus reveal to the winning program's offensive line.
Past recipients include programs such as Iowa — which claimed its second award last year — along with Alabama, Michigan, Army, LSU, Notre Dame, Washington, and Oklahoma. Many award winners have gone on to NFL draft selections and championship rosters, giving the honor measurable credibility within the college football ecosystem.
For foodservice operators running concessions at college venues, Johnsonville's expanded profile in the collegiate space signals continued investment in the stadium and arena channel — a segment that has seen renewed operator interest as venue food-and-beverage programs grow more sophisticated. The deal also underscores how branded food manufacturers are pursuing sports sponsorships as a direct route to high-volume, captive-audience consumption occasions, a trend gaining traction across the broader sports-venue foodservice segment.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
