MLS today announced that Heineken will become the league’s official beer in a five-year deal. The partnership will begin in January and see Heineken replace Budweiser as the official sponsor, which it had been for nearly 20 years. The new deal will give Heineken exclusive rights to MLS content, make the brand the presenter of MLS Rivalry Week and provide further ad visibility during nationally broadcast matches, on-site and digital activations and point-of-sale materials. MLS also will serve as a counterpart to Heineken’s global soccer advertising, including sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League (Ian Thomas, Staff Writer). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Tripp Mickle cites sources as saying that the deal is valued at more than $50M when including "media and marketing commitments." The deal gives Heineken its "first national sports marketing platform in the U.S. and deepens its ties to soccer, a sport it has used to promote its brand overseas." The Netherlands-based beer brand "hopes affiliating" with MLS can "reinvigorate its flagship brand’s U.S. sales." Data from market research firm Euromonitor Int'l shows U.S. sales for Heineken declined 3.8% from '08-13. The new deal "represents a major revenue increase in the beer sponsorship category for MLS." Sources said that Heineken's payout will be more than "three times the estimated value of those rights previously." Sources said that Budweiser "paid approximately" $3.5M annually for rights to MLS, as well as rights to the U.S. and Mexican national soccer teams. Sources also noted that MLS is "in talks about the sponsorship rights to the U.S. and Mexican national teams" with MillerCoors and A-B InBev. The league is "expected to close a deal for those sponsorships before the end of the year." Heineken USA CMO Nuno Teles said that the brand "wasn’t interested in those rights" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/14).
