Budweiser Lights Up EPL Coverage on Star Sports: Increases Depth in Football

Under the deal, Budweiser 0.0 takes on the role of a co-presenting partner on Star Select SD and HD, while owning spots across the league’s 360 games, as it circumvents India’s strict censorship of alcohol advertising on mainstream media.

The brand’s Kings of the Game platform will provide fans with real-time updates and showcase highlights celebrating the greatness of the players, both on and off the pitch. It will also collaborate with the channel to curate fan parks and host live match screenings to further connect with football fans in India.

Year-on-year, football has become a growing passion point for Indian consumers and the brewer, which has sponsorship deals with the FIFA World Cup as well as the Premier League and La Liga, and believes its engaging content and all-round experiences will be a boon for Indian football fans.

Commenting on the association, Kartikeya Sharma, VP Marketing – South Asia, AB InBev, opined, “We are excited to partner with Star Sports as co-presenting sponsors this season for one of the top international sporting events – Premier League.”

“We have always been passionate about the game and truly believe that it surpasses boundaries and brings people together. With this collaboration, we look forward to offering consumers and football fans exclusive content and well-curated experiences, creating an opportunity for them to celebrate the spirit of the game.”

Since our late July report on Budweiser’s partnership with the Premier League and La Liga, its category rank in ASN’s data has not changed (6th=) but its relative share has eased from 5.5% to 5.3%. The two dominant Chinese beer brands Yanjing and Tsingtao have increased their spend of late, to erode the American beer’s presence. Bud’s annual investment in the region has also not recovered yet to its 2017 peaks: barring an exceptional Q4, 2019 still looks like a year of recalibration as it subtly shifts some of its budgets away from China, towards India. This Star Sports deal was orchestrated by PHD (Omnicom Media Group).