Entries tagged with “Sports Business” from Global Sports Buzz

Budweiser and the Manchester United Football Club announced a renewal of their partnership, which will extend through the 2009/2010 season.  Anheuser Busch has supported Manchester United since 2002.  They decided not to release the terms of this new agreement.  
Manchester United has 333 million followers worldwide and more than 80 million people in 200 countries each match, making the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League the most-watched sports franchise in the world.

Budweiser's presence at Old Trafford - the Theatre of Dreams - includes exclusive pouring rights at concessions and digital on-field signage displayed in both English and Mandarin (Chinese), which is seen by Manchester United's massive Chinese fan base.

The sponsorship grants Budweiser rights to use the Manchester United marks and player images in advertising, point-of-sale materials and packaging in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America.  The sponsorship also provides Budweiser with hospitality packages and match tickets for promotional activities, which they use to offer customers an once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Theatre of Dreams. Throughout the 2008/2009 season, Budweiser will launch promotions in the U.K., Mexico, Argentina and Vietnam for consumers to win trips to Manchester United matches.

This is an amazing opportunity for Budweiser and Anheuser Busch to promote their product around the world.  Seeing as Manchester United is one of the most watched football clubs in the world, this is a great opportunity.   My first thought was why is an American beer company becoming a sponsor of a soccer team in another country? I read on and they are trying to market their dominant U.S. product around the world.  I believe that this strategy will help their profits for Budweiser because they are already so dominant in the U.S. an exposure in another country can do nothing but help.  Every company should try and sponsor some sort of soccer entity because it is the most played and viewed sport in the world today.

 

By EVAN WEINER
September 12, 2007
Originally published in the New York Sun

The FIFA Women's World Cup began on Monday, and that means it's time for another group of sports owners to start planning for yet another women's soccer league in the hope that "major league" women's soccer will gain a following in America. With the founding of a new group, Women's Soccer LLC, the question that needs to be answered is simple: Can the new league succeed in getting consumers interested in a once-failed product?

The latest incarnation of a women's soccer league will start in 2009 after two major international events: the World Cup, which is taking place in China, and next year's Beijing Summer Olympics, which will be used as a springboard to market the entity. The new league plans to place franchises in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington. Women's Soccer LLC also will become a business partner of MLS's Soccer United Marketing, which means MLS will attempt to get its business partners interested in the women's game. It has lined up one heavy hitter, Phil Anschutz -- who is already the owner of MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy -- to own the Los Angeles franchise and give the fledgling league credibility.

The new women's league claims it has done its homework and has learned some lessons from the failed Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), an entity which lasted all of three seasons, from 2001 through 2003.