Corona Cero first official beer sponsor of the Olympics

France | For the first time in history, the 2024 Summer Olympics feature an official beer sponsor. AB-InBev has struck a partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through to 2028 as a Worldwide Olympic Partner, the Olympics’ top sponsorship level.

The Company has announced that its Corona Cero brand, a zero-alcohol beer, will lead this campaign during the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Paris from 26 July 2024 to 11 August 2024, as well as during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

AB-InBev aims to engage the 2024 Summer Olympics' enormous audience to showcase one of its 0.0% brands and to accelerate the expansion of the nonalcoholic beer category – an already fast growing segment, which experienced worldwide revenue growth of 14.5% in 2023, compared with 4.9% for traditional beer.

Beer sponsoring and sport events

While beer and elite sport may seem like an odd pairing, the IOC has noted that Corona Cero’s sponsorship highlights both the IOC and AB-InBev’s commitment to responsible consumption. AB-InBev reports that it is one of the world’s largest no-alcohol beer producers, with approximately 20% global market share as of 2023. The company’s Olympic marketing investment follows its ambition, originally set out in 2015, to have no- or lower-alcohol beer products represent at least 20% of its beer volume by the end of 2025. In its 2023 results, the company noted that it will likely not meet this target by 2025, as only 6.8% of its global volumes are currently represented by no- or low-alcohol products.

They did not disclose the cost of the deal with the IOC, though sponsorships at the Olympic Partner tier are estimated to be worth around USD 200 mio (EUR 185 mio) on average, which would represent about 3% of AB InBev’s 2023 sales and marketing expense.

Although the 2024 Summer Olympics mark the IOC’s first partnership with a beer sponsor, this is not the first notable sponsorship from a nonalcoholic beer brand at a major sporting event. Heineken’s no-alcohol beer, Heineken 0.0, has been an official partner of Formula 1 motor racing since 2016, and Heineken reportedly signed a five-year contract extension of this sponsorship in 2023, worth an estimated USD 250 million. Heineken 0.0 also made history at the Super Bowl LVII in 2023 with the first nonalcoholic beer commercial to air during the annual American football championship. These high-profile campaigns and partnerships highlight significant marketing investments made by large beer companies to accelerate their nonalcoholic beer sales and promote brand awareness.

Growth of nonalcoholic market segment steadily rising

Global sales of nonalcoholic beer are expected to grow by a CAGR of about 6.7% to more than USD 50 billion by 2029 from USD 34 billion in 2023, compared with 3% for normal beer. The rising popularity of dealcoholised brews is supported by health-conscious consumer trends and advances in product quality, and will entice more new entrants and brand innovation, which will intensify competition across the segment.

Expansion of this alternative beer segment is not expected to have material impact on the credit profiles of already diversified and well-established large beer companies, such as AB InBev.

"We believe it is imperative that market players continue to invest in the no- and low-alcohol segment to capture this rising demand and to counteract the stagnant or declining volume growth of alcoholic beer, particularly in more mature beer markets such as the U.S. and Europe," says Chloe Blais, Assistant Vice President, European Corporate Ratings, Morningstar DBRS.