Carlsberg and The FA agree new deal

The Football Association and Carlsberg UK have agreed a further four-year sponsorship deal.

By the end of the new agreement, The FA’s relationship with Carlsberg UK will have extended 19 years, one of sport’s longest-running commercial relationships.

The agreement sees one of the world’s leading beer brands retain its exclusive status as the ‘Official Beer’ of both the England team and The FA Cup. The agreement also extends to Wembley Stadium, where Carlsberg will continue as the exclusive beer pouring partner. The wide-ranging agreement also grants Carlsberg title rights to The FA’s Referees Programme.

Gareth Roberts, Carlsberg UK's Director of Sponsorship & Media Relations says: “This is great news for Carlsberg UK, our customers, consumers and our employees. This clearly states our continued commitment to delivering unique and exclusive activity that supports the trade in challenging times.

“Carlsberg's reputation in sponsorship continues to go from strength to strength and with this new agreement in place, its established involvement with the UEFA European Championships and a number of high-profile Premier League clubs, Carlsberg can clearly boast a portfolio second to none."

The new deal starts from August 2010, at the end of the current four-year term and Jonathan Hill, The FA's Group Commercial Director, commented: "As reflected by their innovative advertising campaigns, Carlsberg are arguably the most pro-active and creative of beer brands. It’s great that we will be able to continue to bring their energy to our top assets namely England, The FA Cup and Wembley Stadium – and now the key area of recruiting and retaining referees, to the benefit of the amateur game in particular.”

The four-year agreement runs until the end of July 2014 and covers the Euro 2012 and 2014 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

As The FA’s Official Referees Partner, Carlsberg will lend its considerable support to the recruitment and retention of referees at grassroots level in England. In turn, this supports one of the cornerstones of The FA’s National Game Strategy, which seeks to increase participation in line with increasing the number of qualified match officials.