Heineken says it has extended its sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup to 2015, taking spending on the sport by Europe’s largest beer seller to more than $137 million since the 1995 tournament.
The beer brand, which is also the title sponsor for club rugby’s European Cup, made the announcement on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final between host New Zealand and France.
Heineken’s global brand activation manager, Hans-Erik Tuijt, said the International Rugby Board “is rightly trying to build rugby around the world and we help them with that.”
But Tuijt says having the World Cup back in the Northern Hemisphere in 2015 in England will have a greater effect for beer sales and television viewership of the event.
