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Marketing and Sponsorship

Carlton & United Breweries Ends Sponsorship Of Cricket Australia After 20 Years

Carlton & United Breweries "pulled up stumps on its 20-year sponsorship of the Australian cricket team," according to Mark Hawthorne of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. CUB has been a sponsor of Cricket Australia since the '96-97 season. Its Victoria Bitter brand had naming rights to the domestic Australian one-day int'l team and domestic one-day series, as part of a deal estimated to be worth A$65M ($50M) over the past five years. The deal has come under "increasing pressure from doctors, lobby groups and politicians in recent years," who have questioned the impact of sponsorship deals between alcohol companies and sporting bodies, "given levels of violence and harm in society linked to alcohol abuse." Sources said that the brewer "is not walking away from sports sponsorship." Instead, the company will focus on other brands, "and is not considering ending its deals" with the Australian Football League and National Rugby League. Cricket Australia "is believed to have found a new alcohol sponsor" to replace CUB, with an announcement due early next month (SMH, 3/24). MUMBRELLA's Simon Canning reported CUB "wrapped its summer marketing around" VB, tying branding on uniforms and at grounds to activations such as the Boonie Doll, Cricket Watch, live cricket scoreboard and commemorative cans. Sources confirmed the decision to walk away from Cricket Australia after 20 years had been made for "commercial reasons." A source said that VB would now be advertising-led rather than relying on sponsorship. The move by CUB to abandon cricket "has been hailed" by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which said that children were being "bombarded" by alcohol ads while watching sport (MUMBRELLA, 3/25). ABC's Lily Mayers reported New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard also called on CA to "stop promoting alcohol as part of sponsorship deals." Hazzard: "I would really like to see that alcohol is not on the t-shirts of our players. I think it's an issue that someone who is a hero in all our eyes, Michael Clarke, wears an alcohol brand on his t-shirt" (ABC, 3/25).

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