Former Manchester United legend and soon to be coach at the club Nicky Butt was in Dublin yesterday to promote Guiness’ involvement in a major Miami pre season soccer tournament in August.
Man United, Liverpool, Man City, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, AS Roma and Olympiacos will take part in a tournament in different cities across the US between July 26th and August 4th.
It means less than a two week break between the final of the World Cup in Brazil and the whetting of the appetite for the new season across Europe’s top leagues but such is the nature of the appeal of the sport that it will find a willing audience.
Break
Guinness’ principal interest in sport has more recently been in Rugby, with a new four year deal to become the official beer of England Rugby announced last year but this move to soccer is not a complete break with the past.
The brand was the principal sponsor of Premier League club Queens Park Rangers between 1983 and 1986 in a deal which was at the time worth £450,000.
Ernest Saunders, Guinness Chairman at the time and QPR Manager Terry Venables are pictured left at the signing of that deal.
Guinness also look after the distribution for Carlsberg here in Ireland, the official beer of the Irish soccer team, and for Budweiser, official sponsors of the World Cup which will dominate our screens over the coming weeks.
To mark the US tournament the Guinness+ App is giving away a prize of a trip to Miami for the final on August 4th, with flights, match tickets and three nights accommodation to one winner who checks in using the app into any of the participating pubs between now and June 30th.
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