A-B InBev joins Olympic TOP sponsors, some big names remain on sidelines

Editor’s note: This article was written by Rachel Axon and first appeared in Sports Business Journal, the industry’s leading source of sports business news, events and data.

With the Paris Games just six months away, the International Olympic Committee got a boost to its global sponsorship program.

Anheuser-Busch InBev signed a TOP sponsorship through the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, giving the Olympic movement 15 sponsors at the highest level. The deal also includes rights to the Paralympics and International Paralympic Committee through an agreement it has with the IOC.

Non-alcoholic beer Corona Cero was chosen as the global beer sponsor of the Olympics, while Michelob Ultra will be the official beer sponsor for Team USA.

The IOC and Belgium-based A-B InBev announced the sponsorship in London on Jan. 12. Terms of the deal were not released, though the average TOP sponsorship is around $200 million per quadrennium.

The TOP program has seen rapid growth in recent years, setting a record with nearly $2.3 billion in revenue for the quad ending with the Tokyo Games in 2021.

The deal marks the first time the IOC has filled the non-alcoholic and alcoholic beer category on a global level. Organizing and national Olympic committees have filled them in the past.

Budweiser, which is manufactured by A-B InBev, sponsored the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for more than three decades before ending its partnership in 2017.

“Beer and sports are better together,” said A-B InBev CEO Michel Doukeris in a statement. “Beer is the beverage of moderation and choice, and so it’s only fitting to lead with Corona Cero, for this occasion. This partnership illustrates the opportunity for our category to positively impact and engage with billions of fans around the world.”

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As part of the deal, Michelob Ultra will partner with USA Basketball and U.S. Soccer and provide custom packaging highlighting their men’s and women’s teams.

In the past, having beer or alcohol suppliers has generated criticism from public health groups the same way McDonald’s, a longtime TOP sponsor, did about having their products tied to an event with some of the best athletes in the world.

A-B InBev is the first TOP sponsor to sign during the tenure of Anne-Sophie Voumard as managing director of IOC Television & Marketing Services. Voumard spent 13 years working at the IOC alongside Timo Lumme, the longtime top marketing executive who retired at the end of 2022.

Voumard took over a year ago and oversees the TOP program as it faces potential changes in the coming year.

Five global sponsors — including Bridgestone, Intel and Toyota — have deals that end after the Paris Games later this year and have not yet announced their renewals. Some signed before a stretch of three consecutive Games in Asia but were not able to activate as expected as the COVID pandemic kept fans and sponsors from the Tokyo Games in 2021 and the Beijing Games in 2022.

That could mean big changes ahead for the program, but that’s to be expected, said Michael Payne, a consultant who led the IOC’s marketing efforts for more than two decades.

“Over the years, there have been TOP partners who have not renewed in categories that never subsequently renewed. And new partners and new categories came along,” Payne said before the announcement last week. “So all I would say is business as usual.”