Carlton & United Breweries has 16 sports sponsorship deals across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The Australian brewing company has the largest alcoholic beverages deal in the region, this being Carlton Draught’s partnership with the Australian Football League (AFL). The brewing company also has partnerships with the National Rugby League (NRL), and notably, 13 of their partnerships across the region are with teams which compete in the NRL and AFL, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, “Sponsorship Sector Report – Alcoholic Beverages APAC 2024,” reveals that Australian Football ranks first in terms of sponsorship revenue across the alcoholic beverages sector in the APAC regions. Asahi Breweries, which is the second most active alcoholic beverages brand in APAC, also ranks as the second largest spending alcoholic beverages brand in the region.

Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Carlton Draught’s partnership with the AFL marks a significant milestone, with its Carlton Zero serving as the AFL’s first-ever official non-alcoholic beer. Over recent years, non-alcoholic beer has become more popular as part of a global trend towards healthier lifestyles and more balanced alcohol consumption. This trend is reflected in the notion that non-alcoholic beer brands are becoming more popular across the sports sponsorship landscape.”

Federation deals account for 26% of the alcoholic beverages sector’s sports sponsorship spend in APAC for 2024, which equates to an estimated $45.48 million annually. Alternatively, athlete deals account for only 2% of the annual deal value of the sector in the region, with only eight deals. The largest athlete deal in terms of annual value is Royal Challenge’s extended sponsorship of Virat Kohli for 2024.

Snooks continues: “It is not surprising that federation deals account for a considerable amount of the alcoholic beverages sector’s annual spend in APAC in 2024. Both the AFL and NRL are among the most popular sports leagues in Australia, therefore have huge commercial value for alcoholic beverages brands to partner with.”

Asahi Breweries’ largest deal in terms of annual value is with the Australian Open. The multi-year deal sees Asahi brands Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Somersby return as the official beer and cider partners of the tournament. The deal has an estimated annual value of $5.25 million. As the company is based in Japan, Asahi Breweries also has seven partnerships with Japanese soccer teams,

Snooks concludes: “There has been a significant rise in the popularity of soccer in Japan. This has been parallel with the success of the J. League. This rise can be demonstrated in the value of partnerships, which alcoholic beverages brands are taking the opportunity to sponsor, particularly across the teams which compete in the Japanese Professional Football League.”