ITV has confirmed global financial group Santander and beer brand Carling "will join Sony as official sponsors of its coverage" of the World Cup, according to Arif Durrani of MEDIA WEEK. The three brands have taken multi-million pound integrated packages "that include sponsorship of all live coverage across ITV’s portfolio of channels ITV, ITV4 and ITV Player." The Sony deal "was brokered with ITV Commercial by MediaCom, Carat negotiated Santander's involvement and ZenithOptimedia handled Carling." In addition, Sony "will be the first product placement partner of ITV’s 2014 World Cup coverage, providing its Sony Xperia Z2 devices for use across both broadcast and online content." Sony "will also be the exclusive partner" of ITV’s World Cup Social Media Campaign. ITV has also confirmed that "it has no plans to show ads if the players take drinks breaks during this World Cup," which will be introduced after 30 minutes of each half if the temperature is forecast to be above 32 degrees Celsius. Each break, if necessary, "would last three minutes" and official World Cup broadcasters "were given the option by FIFA to run ads during the time, but ITV has won plaudits for its decision to remain focused on the game" (MEDIA WEEK, 5/28).
