One of the strengths of sport is that it follows an easily followed timetable and while November is a tough time to be thinking of next August, that is exactly what Guinness is reported to have been doing in the USA.
The International Champions’ Cup tournament has been running for a number of years bringing together major stars from Europe and Major League Soccer in different cities around the US. Originally established as a vehicle for Herbalife, sponsors of the LA Galaxy, the partnership was taken on in 2013 by Guinness and this year attracted Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid to play in 12 cities across the USA.
Reports from the US suggest that Guinness has now signed up to a five year deal to partner with the tournament.
It is a major commitment stretching to millions in terms of funding for the teams to travel and promotion of the games across Europe and the US.
The tournament is also reported to be expanding its geographic reach with games to be played in the summer of 2015 in Asia for the first time.
Soccer remains the world’s number one sport and clubs are the engine of its popularity so developing a tournament which can be expanded into international markets is a smart way of building global association albeit without the massive expense of becoming a FIFA partner of the World Cup.
Diageo is already involved with soccer here in Ireland where Carlsberg, a brand it manages here is the official beer of the Irish soccer team and the FAI.
The development of such a super-tournament for pre-season games may take away the opportunity for the FAI to stage more club friendlies, such as with Liverpool and Man United in recent years, both of which added significantly to income at an otherwise quiet time of year.
