The Australian Football League (AFL) has emerged as a significant battleground for alcoholic beverage brands in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC), with a large number of small to mid-sized sponsorships combining to drive strong deal value.<\/p>\n
Data and analytics company, GlobalData, says AFL secured the largest agreement of 2025 \u2013 it\u2019s partnership with Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), and the number of AFL partnership shows how brands are leveraging Australia\u2019s most influential sporting platforms build visibility.<\/p>\n
Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, said: \u201cBy partnering with the AFL\u2014a central part of Australia\u2019s sporting and social culture \u2014 brands can align themselves with the league\u2019s core values of community, mateship, and tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cCUB\u2019s agreement with the AFL is a clear example: it includes multiple team-level partnerships that reinforce CUB\u2019s long-term commitment to the game. This deal not only helps strengthen the AFL\u2019s financial position but also supports greater inclusivity by expanding the availability and visibility of non-alcoholic beverage options.\u201d<\/p>\n
CUB has secured two of the three largest alcohol-sector partnerships in the APAC region, signing major deals with both the AFL and the National Rugby League (NRL).<\/p>\n
As part of its AFL agreement, CUB launched Carlton Zero, the league\u2019s first official non-alcoholic beer, reflecting growing demand for lower- and no-alcohol options. CUB\u2019s renewed multi-year partnership with the NRL further strengthens its presence across Australia\u2019s major sporting codes<\/p>\n
Snooks added: \u201cAlcoholic beverage brands have concentrated substantial investments in high\u2011visibility Pacific properties, such as national teams, major leagues, and marquee events, while relying on numerous low\u2011value, localised partnerships across Asian markets to maintain brand presence without violating regional regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cCUB\u2019s agreement with the NRL covers alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic options, such as Gatorade and Cool Ridge water. This comprehensive sponsorship approach enables CUB to reach a broader audience, including consumers who prefer non-alcoholic choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe partnerships with both the NRL and AFL are pivotal for enhancing brand visibility, responding to market trends, and reinforcing CUB\u2019s leadership in sports sponsorship. These deals benefit CUB and support the leagues\u2019 financial stability and fan engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Football League (AFL) has emerged as a significant battleground for alcoholic beverage brands in the Asia-Pacific…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,57005,1169,85],"class_list":["post-335315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-cub","tag-globaldata","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}