Constellation Brands Inc., Chicago, announced that internationally-renowned soccer players Clint Dempsey and Miguel Layún will serve as brand ambassadors for Modelo Especial, a pilsner-style lager brewed for 90 years in Mexico. The brand, which recently became the second most imported beer in the United States, has partnered with Dempsey and Layún as part of its summer marketing campaign, which began this month and centers around the sport of soccer.

Constellation Brands Inc., Victor, N.Y., reported net sales for the 2014 fiscal year were more than $4.8 billion, a 74 percent increase, following its acquisition of the Grupo Modelo U.S. beer business.

Crown Imports LLC, a division of Constellation Brands, introduced Modelo Especial Chelada beer.

Victor, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands Inc. reported a successful second quarter of its 2014 fiscal year following the integration of its newly acquired brewery operations. As a result of the Mexico City-based Grupo Modelo U.S. beer business acquisition, the company recorded a $1.6 billion non-cash gain on the re-measurement to fair value of the company’s original 50 percent interest in Crown Imports LLC, Chicago. In addition, the consolidation garnered $763 million of incremental net sales, boosting overall consolidated net sales for the quarter.

Modelo Especial, a brand imported by Crown Imports LLC, Chicago, capped off 2012 with more than 43 million cases in annual depletions, making it the third import beer to achieve 40 million cases sold in one calendar year, the company says.

 Modelo Especial teamed up with Puma and Complex Media to launch the Modelo Especial Blank Canvas Project, which celebrates self-expression by fusing music, art and style inspired by Modelo Especial.