A perfect match: sports and beverage sponsorships
Image: Oksana/stock.adobe.com
Research from data and analytics company, GlobalData, has revealed that Heineken lead the EMEA alcoholic beverage sector in sponsorship activity and spending in 2024, with the company undertaking 41 deals.
Heineken’s major partnership is with UEFA, covering multiple club competitions through the 2026-27 season. This deal, valued at $70 million annually, underscores the Dutch brewing giant’s strategic commitment to leveraging soccer’s global reach, particularly through the UEFA Champions League, reveals GlobalData.
Heineken’s three-year agreement with UEFA encompasses the Champions League, Europa Conference League, Super Cup, and Europa League competitions.
GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Sponsorship Sector Report – Alcoholic Beverages EMEA 2024,’ reveals that soccer/football holds the premier position in sponsorship revenue and deal volume within the alcoholic beverages sector across the EMEA region. Europe-based alcoholic beverage brands (which also includes AB In-Bev and Diageo-owned Guinness) are the top spenders in the region.
Sporting events are of course hugely instrumental in partnerships with beverage brands who can their products, and music events can also be counted here. Limited edition, specially branded cans can be collectibles and serve as consumer memorabilia, in addition to being one of the most convenient and sustainable packaging options for consumers at these type of arenas and venues.
And it’s not just cans – aluminium bottles can also be an option, although this depends on a venue’s policy of whether a beverage container needs to be ‘open’ ie with no lid. Ball Corporation’s Aluminium Cup provides an alternative to the usual open plastic cups and continues to prove hugely popular with sports stadiums and concert venues, as well as offering something unique and different to the usual metal package.
As we move further into the year, we’ll no doubt hear of more partnerships involving sport, music and cans. Bring it on!
- Alex Rivers (she/her), CanTech International editor
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