In a crowded American beer market, Heineken is looking to differentiate itself by going big on soccer. In October, the beer brand replaced Budweiser as the official beer of MLS, signing a five-year deal valued at $50 million. The brand followed that by signing seven team-level deals. Heineken is leveraging its 10-year sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League in the United States, as well, launching a TV and digital campaign earlier this year framed around that competition.
Heineken USA CMO Nuno Teles, who assumed that role last March after serving as CMO for the company’s Brazilian operations for four years, recently spoke with SportsBusiness Journal’s Ian Thomas. He said now is the right time for soccer in the United States.
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What led to the deal with MLS?
TELES: Three major things led us to close this partnership with MLS. Number one was the acknowledgment of the fact that 90 million consumers are somehow related to soccer in the U.S., which is a quite impressive number. Furthermore, that number skews towards millennials and Hispanics, which is the second thing, because those are very important demographics for us. The third thing is that soccer fans are 50 percent more likely to buy a European import. So it’s a critical mass, it’s the right consumer, and then they are 50 percent more likely to purchase. It was almost too good to be true.
■ Do you think there’s been a shift in how soccer is viewed in the United States?
TELES: The image of soccer in the U.S. is not the same as it is viewed in Europe. Here, it is seen as super-progressive, cool and sophisticated, but also still new. Beyond that critical mass, it’s also a great sport just to be associated with.
For Heineken, we also think that we can bring further credibility to the sport here and really help to drive a cultural shift toward making the sport even bigger. This is the biggest investment in the history of [Heineken USA sponsorship] … so this is very meaningful for both of us. At the same time, we also want to go beyond the sponsorship.
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The five-year, $50M deal with MLS is the biggest sponsorship for Heineken USA.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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■ How so?
TELES:
For example, we’re sponsoring Rivalry Week in MLS, and we want to explore more ideas that will boost interest in the sport and league. We want to see what we can do with the media partners in ESPN, Fox Sports and Univision. We want to see what technology we can bring to growing the game.
Another difference between U.S. and European soccer is that here, all the clubs and MLS [are] open to thinking about new ways to make the game more exciting and relevant, and that’s what we also want.
When we signed the partnership, I spoke with Gary Stevenson (MLS Business Ventures president and managing director) about the end of the World Cup. When the U.S. men’s national team came back, no single brand took advantage of that movement. There [were] more than 23 million people watching those games, and no one took advantage of that. We’re thinking about the next World Cup.
■ What’s next for Heineken USA in the sports world? Another league deal?
TELES: I would rather make bold moves in one sport than try to operate in one or two additional sports. We believe that soccer is the right choice for us.
■ Do you have a favorite MLS team now?
TELES: I have 20 favorite ones now.
