Budweiser to partner The FA Cup

Budweiser has signed a three-year agreement with The Football Association to become the ‘lead partner’ of The FA Cup.

The English club competition, which is the oldest football tournament in the world, will now be known as The FA Cup with Budweiser.

Budweiser has served as official beer of the FIFA World Cup for 25 years and describes itself and parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev as “long-standing supporters of football around the world”.

As partner of The FA Cup, Budweiser has planned a programme of activity, both in the UK and around the world “to bring the world's most prestigious cup competition closer to the fans”.

Budweiser will also work with The FA to promote responsible drinking to football fans and will assist with a community initiative to provide equipment to teams in the early rounds of the competition.

The agreement was negotiated by The FA's sponsorship team, led by Peter Daire. He said: "Being able to work with a brand like Budweiser, with its scale and marketing expertise, is a great boost to The FA Cup and I look forward to making the partnership a success for both parties, and most importantly, for fans and competing clubs."

Chris Burggraeve, chief marketing officer, AB InBev, said: “We share The Football Association's ambitions to showcase the tournament globally, uniting the millions of fans around the world who anticipate The FA Cup each year."