Soccer Marketing 101 - On Major League Soccer and Budweiser

On Monday, Budweiser and Major League Soccer announced they had renewed their partnership to sponsor the league, the Men's and Women's United States National Teams, and the Mexican National Team within the U.S.

Interestingly enough, both the league and Budweiser passed on the opportunity to talk about how the Free Beer Movement has been instrumental in growing both of their bottom lines. Oh well....

“Anheuser-Busch has a rich history in soccer, and we’re thrilled to continue our role as an ambassador of the sport through SUM’s top properties,” said Mark Wright, vice president of media, sports & entertainment marketing, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “Not only do we have a chance to grow the sport nationally through our sponsorships of Major League Soccer and the Mexican National Team’s in the U.S., but Budweiser and Bud Light’s sponsorship of the U.S. national teams allows us to reach soccer fans on a truly global level.”

Close enough. If you parse those words... we're in there somewhere.

The larger point is, though, that the nation's largest brewery has renewed its interest in MLS.

It's no small fact that having this sort of partnership is crucial for the growth of American soccer. Budweiser has been an investor in MLS since the league's inception, a sponsor of the FIFA World Cup since 1986, and a supporter of the U.S. National Team since their return to the international stage in 1990.

Inflatable beer at a U.S. National Team game in San Diego.
Full disclosure: That's "Danny Beerseed" on the right.

For whatever your personal feelings of Budweiser and Bud Light you have to appreciate the continued faith the company has had in the league and the national team for nearly 30 years. In the early days of Major League Soccer,  Budweiser, along with Nike, were two national sponsors that stuck their necks out to help support the fledging league.*

As the league and the national teams continue to expand their sponsorship portfolios, massive companies like Budweiser provide a bell weather for other multi-national corporations weighing their investment in American soccer. Chivas USA can count Corona Extra as its jersey sponsor. In 2011, the league can count such companies as AT&T, AllState, American Airlines, Pepsi, Visa, Volkswagon, and many more as financial backers. Not to mention that MLS now has a tequila sponsor as well!

And even if this Bud isn't for you many MLS teams have found flexibility in securing local beers as club sponsors as well. Budweiser's initial investment not withstanding those local breweries probably wouldn't be there (with the macro-brewers feeling out the ground, making the risks, and thusly inviting the competition later on. Teams like Portland Timbers with Widmer Brothers, Seattle Sounders and Redhook Brewery**, and teams like the Philadelphia Union adding craft brewers, Yards Brewing Co. to their in stadium line up.

Craft beer enthusiasts might decry the new deal between Budweiser and MLS as a cynical ploy for the lowest common denominator fan (while clearly the move is continued push to go after the growing Hispanic population as well), but at a market share of 50.9% the brewer is American soccer and beer's elephant in the room and a necessary evil. America soccer fans with more discerning tastes will poo poo Bud's presence in our sport, but without them the league and the National Teams may not have survived in its earlier days.

American soccer and craft beer fans can only hope that the trail blazed by Budweiser, and now embraced by other breweries, will lead to more options in and outside the stadium for everyone.

"In every corner of the world, football fans share a passion for their favorite teams and players, and they enjoy watching the games with a cold beer." - Tony Ponturo, Vice President of Global Media and Sports Marketing, Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

Mr. Ponturo, in his quote, never specifies what kind of cold beer we should all share in. At the end of the day the Free Beer Movement isn't going to discriminate how anyone becomes a fan of American soccer through the power of free beer. Whether its from a Bud, a Miller Lite, a craft beer, or foreign brew... it's important to keep in mind that beer is the medium, but, ultimately, soccer is the message.

* Source of Budweiser's continued involvement in American soccer from the book, "Star Spangled Soccer" by Gary Hopkins.

** Ironically, Widmer and Redhook are both now owned by Budweiser's parent company, InBev. Neither craft brewer may not have ever had to pull or backing support to make their respective deals if not for being a part of a larger brewing conglomerate. Certainly the move was to put local brewers in the stadium and in prominent position over Budweiser given the Northwest's taste for craft beers.

Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Manchester United Dumps Ugly Girlfriend Only to Hook Up With Another Woof-er

Last January, super club Manchester United began their search to sign a new beer sponsorship after their deal with Budweiser and parent company, InBev, was set to expire this season.

This week, the Red Devils announced they had partnered with Thailand brewers Singha to becoming the official beer of Manchester United. This follows news from earlier this month that Singha also signed on as the beer sponsor of United's EPL rivals, Chelsea. United's deal is worth a reported, $14-million over three years.

As we commented on Twitter the switch from United's previous beer sponsor, Budweiser, to Singha, is roughly the equivalent of dumping one ugly girlfriend for another. Both are mass market, bland tasting brews that are an insult not only one's taste buds, but an affront to the tastes of your local fan base.

Your friends were busy congratulating you for dumping the baggage and now are slapping themselves on the forehead as you bring home the next paper bag job (which is funny in an unintended way as most bad beer is also drank out of a paper bag).

Uhh.... question.
What ever happened to the local brews?

With the increasing globalization going on in global soccer it wasn't surprising to hear that yet another super club went outside it's borders to land a major sponsorship deal. With massive player salaries on the books and tough economic times selling out to the highest bidder made the most sense (even not in tough money times this is true). United recently signed a new shirt sponsorship deal with Aon Corp. worth nearly $125 million over four years making it the largest in soccer history and eclipsing their next largest deal by a factor of four (Bayern Munich and T-Mobile).

No one is going to fault Manchester United or any other club for seeking top dollar deals. They are a business after all. The problem is when these business calculations run in the opposite direction of common sense from several different perspectives.

United and other European clubs are looking towards the Asian continent as one of the last footballing fan frontiers (nice alliteration, huh?) along with the United States. By tapping (ha.. punny!) Singha Beer as a major sponsor they create one more powerful connection with one of the largest sets of fan bases in the world. In India alone the number of United "fans" out-numbers local United Kingdom fans by 6-to-1. The logic goes that if you want to capture the Asian soccer fan you need to make sponsorship in-roads into products they have a connection to.

Enter beer. Asia is fast growing market for many goods and beer is one more sign of a growing affluent continent. As the middle-class grows in nations like China, beer purchase and consumption is seen as a major harbinger of financial success.

The problem is when the European clubs' marketing departments treat Asian as one homogeneous group. Simply signing a multi-year contract with one Asian company doesn't make the in-roads that one might think. Moves to recruit foreign beer makers smacks of a lack of understanding as to how the world works.

The equation has to be more complicated that this:

Club's want of Asian market + sponsorship by beer drank in one specific nation = Converted Asian market

Signha doesn't have an iron grip on the Asian beer market. In fact, it hardly has a grip on the Thai beer market as it yo-yos between Thailand's number one and number two beer with Change (ironically the shirt sponsor of fellow EPL club, Everton).

Certainly Thailand is a valuable growth market for the Red Devils, but at the expense of South Korea, Japan, China, et al? These nations are all fiercely nationalistic and growing as producers of domestic beers. Do they really want to see Manchester United have such tunnel vision when it comes to hooking up with one Asian beer company?

Do I have a problem with Singha as a beer? No, not really. Truth be told I've never had one. I'm sure it's just one of those country-specific lagers that are unremarkable, but at a certainly time and place; refreshing. BeerAdvocate users give it a "C" rating (although the "Bros" give it a "B," but that might be because of their fondness in pairing it with spicy Thai food).

What we do have a problem with is cynical marketing. Does Manchester or Chelsea or Everton for that matter really expect that it's fans will begin drinking these Thai beers? At all? According to news releases these are now going to be made available in their stadiums. Certainly the sales figures for those will be barn burning.

As soccer clubs around the world, but particularly the massive ones that are reaching out from Europe, attempt to become global brands it is important that they not forget the fans that helped build them brick by brick and blade of grass by blade of grass to become what they are today.

I can hardly imagine the lack of a rush of fans to line up for United's previous beer sponsor, Budweiser, either. The problem with clubs looking past their local beers is that they're hardly considering the fans that pack their stadiums each weekend in the money making equation.

When the budget makers at super clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, or Real Madrid look at their revenue streams how much cash is being made between the walls of their houses of soccer worship in Manchester, London, or Madrid versus the advertising and merchandise flow from the rest of the world?

For these clubs the beer is just a small part of a bigger globalization equation where the average fan that walks out his or her front door and takes the train to the stadium is becoming less and less of a factor. There particular taste in beer, say nothing of other sponsorships, coaches, players, and other things are increasingly unimportant.

This is why you see ownership backlashes at United (against the Glazers), Liverpool (against Hicks and Gillette) and to a certainly extent worries with new cash flows at clubs like Chelsea (with Abramovich) and Manchester City (with the Dubai backers).

The beer is just sitting, cooling, a top an iceberg of problems for mega clubs.

The sensibly solution to this all is to ensure that both local traditions and global reach exist peacefully. Why not have a tiered sponsorship system that allows the local or even national brands the ability to get a piece of the United pie? Even though "Britain's biggest brewers (were) among those that received footballs branded with each of their own beer marques and Manchester United logos." it had to be believed that it was unrealistic that their bids would win out.

Think locally? Drink locally?

Not that sports in the U.S. are the shinning beacon for the rest of the world always, but often times they have succeed in mending local concerns with a larger approach. Take, for example, Seattle's "Brougham Bitter" a beer named for the Sounder's supporters group on tap at Qwest Field. Back in the FBM's home state of Wisconsin the Milwaukee Brewers ballpark, named Miller Park, has several competing beers on tap including two local favorites, Leinekugel's and Lakefront.

The world is becoming more and more inter-connected everyday, but it's important that massice clubs like Manchester United keep in mind the people that brought them to the point where a Thailand beer company would drop $14 million just so they could get their names on an electronic sign board and a few taps in the stadium.

Those people probably deserve a beer. And one that came from nearby.
Support the Movement. Get the Free Beer Movement T-Shirt. Only from Objectivo.com