Heineken signs up to sponsor 2011 Rugby World Cup

by Gemma Charles, marketingmagazine.co.uk 17-Mar-09, 16:50

LONDON - Heineken has signed up to be the worldwide partner and the official beer of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.

This will be the fourth time that Heineken has been a sponsor and worldwide partner of the Rugby World Cup, having been involved in South Africa in 1995, Australia in 2003 and France in 2007.

Stefan Orlowski, Heineken's group commerce Director, said: ‘As the world's most valuable, international premium beer brand, we have been associated with many high profile global sporting tournaments. We will bring this wealth of experience to the Rugby World Cup 2011 to help make this the best and most enjoyable Rugby World Cup ever.'

Heineken will implement a series of activities starting early 2010 to support the partnership, building up to the first game of the tournament on September 9 with the final being played on October 23 in Auckland.

It is estimated that a cumulative audience of 4.2 billion people watched the Rugby World Cup 2007 and that this will increase for the 2011 tournament.