Budweiser was allowed to sell beer at the World Cup, but with restrictions
2022.11.20 08:39
Budweiser was allowed to sell beer at the World Cup, but with restrictions
Budrigannews.com – According to industry analysts, the last-minute decision to ban alcohol sales at Qatar’s World Cup stadiums would seriously limit Budweiser sales in the Gulf states, but would not derail the owner’s global campaign during the tournament. No.
The announcement of the ban by world football’s governing body FIFA on Friday, just two days before the event starts, leaves world’s biggest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev with at least one headache.
Budweiser, the main World Cup sponsor, will sell alcoholic beer exclusively in ticketed perimeters surrounding each of the eight stadiums three hours before and one hour after each game during the four-week event. had been set.
“Well this is nasty,” read the official Budweiser Twitter account when news of the reversal surfaced. This tweet was later deleted.
Budweiser has been a World Cup sponsor since 1986 in Mexico.
Held every four years, the event typically increases beer consumption worldwide and the Belgian-based makers of brands such as Stella*Artois and Corona have revealed that it is the tournament’s official beer brewery. We want to benefit from the millions of dollars we paid for being a person.
The 2014 World Cup saw AB InBev beer sales increase by 1.4 million liters in host country Brazil, with additional consumption in the generally weak winter months, increasing annual volume by more than 1 percentage point. .
strict control
But Qatar 2022 will always be different as the first World Cup was held in a conservative Muslim country with strict controls on alcohol.
Reflecting information that stadium stands will be alcohol-free in July, AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris said the competition would provide a great opportunity to showcase alcohol-free brands like Budweiser Zero. Stated.
Two days instead of a months planning window, AB InBev could be looking to substitute regular Budweiser for an out-of-stadium non-alcoholic version, indeed, given the generally higher margins of the latter. and may have more profit.
Elaina Bailes, a board member of the London Lawyers’ Litigation Society, said the last-minute change of position was likely to lead to disputes.
She said, “Budweiser now has a costly logistical problem of what to do with distributed inventory that can no longer be sold, which has a knock-on effect on supply chain contracts.
Ed-Weeks, head of commercial dispute resolution at UK-based lawyer Cripps, said the big question is whether the FIFA-Budweiser deal anticipates the possibility of a sudden change.
“If they did, and they put a clause that puts Budweiser in danger, they’re going to be very smug now. If they don’t, FIFA and its lawyers are going to have a really bad weekend.” He said.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the potential legal dispute.
However, addressing the issue of the overturned decision at a press conference in Qatar on Saturday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said FIFA wanted to respect the original decision to allow the sale.
“We tried, but that’s why I’m giving it a belated policy change,” he said. “We tried to see if it was possible.”
He added that FIFA and Budweiser have been partners for decades and hope to become partners in the future.
“I think this particular situation has brought us even closer,” he says.
“Some of the planned stadium revitalization cannot go ahead due to circumstances beyond our control,” AB InBev said in a statement, refusing to comment further. did.
However, Doukeris says the much bigger impact in terms of beer sales comes from fans around the world who hold AB InBev beer, from Jupiler in Belgium to Brahma in Brazil.
In fact, Brewer launched its largest World Cup campaign in over 70 markets, doubling the number of participating nations, more than doubling compared to the 2018 edition of over 50.
“Stadium sales themselves are a relatively small component of this,” said Bernstein beverage analyst Trevor-Sterling. “In terms of brand volume, it’s all about global TV audiences and global activation.”
