Guinness has announced its first-ever global football partnership with the Premier League. The four-year agreement is worth about KES 8.5 Billion (£52 million). The deal will see the giant brewer become the Official Beer of the Premier League, and Guinness 0.0 as the Official Non-Alcoholic Beer of the Premier League. As the Official Responsible Drinking Partner of the League, Guinness will be using its global rights to promote and encourage responsible drinking during the season.
The brewer will use its distinctive marketing, creative advertising, and history of activating world-class sports sponsorships to create fun and engaging fan experiences. The partnership will look to support and uplift the football community, on and off the pitch, and inspire new connections between its own consumers and passionate Premier League fans around the world.
As the most-watched football league on the planet where games are broadcast into 900 million homes in 189 countries, the brewer will bring together the beautiful game and the beautiful pint through its activation of the partnership with the Premier League. In August, Guinness will launch a new campaign platform, and fans will be able to experience Guinness and the Premier League together on match day across pubs and in retail outlets globally. This announcement follows a successful first half of the year for Guinness with sales of the Diageo-owned stout up 14% worldwide.
Since 2016, the Premier League has adamantly decided not to pursue a title sponsor since its deal with Barclays ended. Barclays has remained one of the league’s official partners but deciding against a title sponsor has worked to strengthen the Premier League brand across the globe.
According to The Telegraph, the Premier League distributed £188.4 million from its commercial deals equally among the clubs, at £9.4 million each for the 2023/24 financial year.
The Premier League treads a fine line between negotiating the kind of deal that benefits the 20 clubs without taking up the kind of deals clubs would wish to agree individually. The commercial earnings of the league are the only central funds that are still divided equally among the 20.
The Premier League briefed the Guinness deal to clubs and executives on Wednesday. It is the first for the Guinness brand in football. Diageo had previously used the Guinness brand as a sponsor in rugby union where it was associated with the Six Nations and the top-flight Premiership.
GUINNESS SPORTS SPONSORSHIP
Guinness announced in December that it was expanding its sponsorship of the Six Nations rugby championship to include title naming rights of its women’s competition, in a deal that is currently due to run until 2028.
Budweiser is now more closely associated with its own premium naming rights competition, the FA Cup. Guinness will use the deal to promote its traditional drink and also its non-alcoholic version.
The Premier League has digital gaming giant EA Sports as its current lead partner. Barclays, Castrol, Hublot, Oracle and Nike are the current official partners. Barclays is expected to be renewed as the official banking partner.
John Kennedy, President Europe, Diageo: “The Premier League is the world’s most popular football league, providing an amazing opportunity to continue the success of the Guinness brand globally and connect with new communities around the football occasion. I’m particularly excited for the brand to build on the impressive growth that Guinness 0.0 has seen since its launch, and using our status at the Official Non-Alcoholic Beer of the Premier League to lay the foundations for further global roll-out around the world.”
Stephen O’Kelly, Global Brand Director, Guinness said: “This partnership brings together two iconic global brands that are loved by communities all over the world, and we can’t wait to bring beautiful pints to the beautiful game. When the first ball is kicked off in August, Guinness will be building on its international legacy in sport with a new campaign reaching millions of fans, who follow and enjoy the Premier League in their own unique way across the globe.”
Will Brass, Chief Commercial Officer, the Premier League said, “We are delighted to partner with Guinness, the world’s leading stout, whose team have consistently demonstrated world[1]class creativity, innovation and community storytelling through its marketing in sports and more broadly. We are looking forward to sharing a long-term relationship that will enhance the Premier League football viewing occasion in pubs, bars and homes around the world, and bring to life the magic for which the Premier League is famous.”
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