Budweiser links with ICC in AB InBev’s first cricket outing with 2-year sponsorship deal

Mumbai: AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser beer, on Thursday announced a two-year sponsorship deal with the International Cricket Council spanning men’s and women’s tournaments in all formats from 2026. This is Budweiser’s first association with cricket. AB InBev, the world’s largest beer maker, has officially sponsored several major sporting events, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics.[We will] looking to activate it in many different ways,” said Kartikeya Sharma, president of AB InBev India. “It’s very much about the experience on the ground, the scale of our country to go beyond just the stadium in bars, people’s homes, in the community of content that people engage with online.” “This partnership is truly glocal,” ICC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjog Gupta told reporters at a press briefing. “It is globally significant, but locally relevant and contextual.” In India, AB InBev’s partnership with the ICC will “largely revolve” around Budweiser, but in other markets where the ICC hosts tournaments, local AB InBev outposts may choose other local brands better positioned to be associated with sports. The partnership will cover the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in the UK, the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 in Sri Lanka, the ICC World Test Championship Final 2027 in England and the ICC Men’s World Cup South Africa 2027, Zimbabwe and Namibia. From music to sports In India, Budweiser’s partnerships have focused almost entirely on music, sponsoring marquee events such as Boiler Room, Lollapalooza India and now Rolling Loud India. His partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) league in the US this year was part of a music event called NBA House held in Mumbai in June. “We started with music because at the time we felt that beer consumed in bars, pubs and various types of lounges was diverted to drinking the cheapest available beer on tap,” Sharma said. “We recognized an opportunity for premium beer provided we also bring the necessary experiences with us. We started with music with that idea of ​​creating the environment where people come in and start paying a premium for beer.” AB InBev today is more confident about associating with a sport of the scale that cricket brings and adds value to it, he said. Sales of beer in India this year have been badly affected after an unusually long monsoon ate into peak summer demand. In Karnataka, a significant market for alcohol, sales were hurt after the state raised excise duty on beer several times. Sharma said that beer sales in Karnataka have declined by 20% year-on-year. United Breweries – the maker of India’s biggest beer brand Kingfisher – reported a nearly 3% decline in sales and a 65% drop in profit after tax for the September quarter. “Partnering with cricket makes sense for a brand like Budweiser because the culture of sports bars continues to evolve in India,” said Karan Kamdar, research analyst at brokerage Choice Institutional Equities. “For example, you still cannot buy alcohol in stadiums during matches.” He added that competition in the premium beer space is increasing as legacy brands look for higher margin growth in big cities but battle for market share with draft and craft beers. These smaller manufacturers also offer home delivery in some major cities. “Data shows that, on average, 80% of alcohol consumption occurs at home and off-site,” Kamdar said. “With this in mind, Budweiser may be able to promote more association with not only sports, but also home consumption.” AB InBev’s partnership comes at a delicate time for the ICC. JioStar wants to exit its Indian media rights contract to broadcast ICC matches because it is too expensive, The Economic Times reported this week. AB InBev is not worried for now. “Not at all,” Sharma said when asked if the company was worried about the ICC possibly losing a broadcaster for its upcoming tournaments in India. “We come in with great humility to add to our list of global partnership of sports … we have a thesis about what we can do with this partnership. We come in with a gigantic amount of optimism. On our end, this makes a lot of intuitive sense. For us, everything is synchronizing at this point in time and anything else that happens in the media landscape may not be very disturbing at this point in time.”