Sales are the goal

Football and beer… for Britons it’s a marriage made in heaven. Alistair Gilmour looks at the link between sport and beer

MOST of us are familiar with those three little words that mean everything to a relationship.

They’re a symbol of affection, an underpinning of trust and a measure of unstinting loyalty. They are often whispered intimately but can be signalled across a crowded room with equal effect – an expression of warmth, familiarity, attachment, confidence and rapport.

Beer And Football – could we ever live without them?

The pre-match pint and the postmatch inquest mean the pair are inseparable, with club sponsorship by brewing conglomerates blessing the union for richer rather than for poorer. This marriage is summed up perfectly by one cynical football fan whose team, Kilmarnock FC, is sponsored by Seriously Strong Cheddar.

“I associate beer with football,” he says, “not cheese.” Football gives its associated brands a youthful, fit and stylish image and, with annual sales in excess of £16 billion, beer in Britain is big business. More than 25 million Brits regularly choose to drink from a range of almost 3,000 beers available, contributing an annual £5 billion to the Treasury in tax and duty alone.

And, it’s a partnership that shows little sign of breaking up, for the time being. Carling’s Premiership sponsorship cost the lager brand £12 million for a three year deal in 1993; last year, when Barclaycard renewed its three year contract, it spent £57 million.

Premium brands will always want to be associated with top football clubs, but worryingly for the Barclaycard millions, Carli.....

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By Alastair Gilmour

Section : Beer Sponsorship

Page number : 53