Budweiser Partners With Football In the UK

In spite of the NFL games played in London last season, the game that Budweiser has announced a long-term commitment to over there is soccer. And their new alignment with the UK’s Football Association (FA), which will be ending a 22-year partnership with Carlsberg, is a seismic change in the beer biz…

Here’s the deal…

Starting in 2018/19 season Budweiser will become the official beer partner of the England senior men’s team…and we’ve no doubt that it didn’t come cheap.

And not only will “The King of Beers’ be taking over the taps at the Wembley Stadium, the Drinks Business is reporting that they’ll also be “making a significant investment to upgrade the fan’s drinking experience at Wembley Stadium, specifically improving the pouring and purchasing process.”

And it’s not like Budweiser hasn’t already been pouring money into the UK’s football (read soccer) organizations…

Since 2012, Budweiser has reportedly invested over £1.3 million directly into English football through campaigns such as the Budweiser Club Futures Program which makes annual grants to a grassroots football club competing in the FA Cup. And it pledged that it would be renewing its financial commitment FA Cup partnership.

This from Mark Bullingham, The Football Association’s Commercial and Marketing Director…

 “Budweiser has been a great long-term partner across many different parts of football, so we’re delighted with this new, bigger partnership that will take support for the game and entertainment for the fans to the next level.

This is the largest Official Beer Partnership deal that The FA has ever done, which allows us to continue to invest in all areas of the game. On top of that, Budweiser’s commitment to activate the partnership in new and exciting ways will be brilliant for fans throughout the country and for the match day experience at Wembley.

Our relationship with our current beer partner {Carlsberg} for the England Team comes to its contractual end after this summer’s World Cup and I would like to thank them for its support and contribution over our 22-year partnership.”

And Jason Warner, President of AB InBev North Europe was pretty damned excited about the new partnership…

“Football is more than just a game or our national sport – it is a huge part of our culture, one of our favorite forms of entertainment and one of the best ways to bring people together.

This is why Budweiser and football have enjoyed a natural affinity for many years and why we’re pleased to strengthen our role in some of the nation’s biggest cultural moments through our FA partnership and presence at Wembley Stadium, one of the world’s most iconic entertainment venues.”

As is usual with these kinds of things financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. But he FA has revealed that its deal with AB InBev will include a “significant investment” and we expect that it was…