Spirit of the game: how Diageo is building brands in global sporting culture

Diageo’s recent announcement as the Official Spirits Supporter for the FIFA World Cup 26™ in North, Central and South America spotlights how we are connecting and growing our iconic brands with worldwide sporting events and the consumers who enjoy them, from stadium to screen.

From Premier League Football to Six Nations Rugby and the NFL, we are blending brand storytelling with fan passion, delivering global impact.

Since becoming the official partner of the Men’s Six Nations Rugby Championship in 2019, we have focused on making the brand more relevant and accessible, resulting in significant growth. Pint sales in stadiums rose 15% in 2024 compared to 2022, while in-stadium sales of Guinness 0.0 increased 26% throughout the 2023 championship.

In 2024, Guinness became the Title Partner of the Women’s Six Nations. We’re committed to raising the profile of the women's game and celebrating women’s rugby like never before. In 2025, we partnered with female-focused sporting footwear manufacturer, IDA Sports to create the “Never Settle” Boot – the first-ever soft-ground rugby boot designed specifically for women, tailored to their physiological needs on the pitch.

In the same year, Guinness also partnered with ITV to expand live audio description commentary across four matches during the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations, making the tournament more accessible and inclusive for blind and partially sighted fans and ensuring more people can enjoy the game.

In August 2024, Guinness became the official beer of the English Premier League, launching a global campaign tapping into individual stories of love for the beautiful game – from ‘Brothers’ in Nigeria to players on a remote Hebridean island. With Premier League matches broadcast to 900 million homes in 189 countries, this four-year partnership is Guinness’s largest-ever global campaign. Guinness 0.0 is the official non-alcoholic beer of the Premier League, supporting moderation every matchday.

In the US, our partnership with the National Football League (NFL) continues to connect our brands with one of the biggest global sporting communities.

Over the past five years, we have teamed up with 20 NFL teams, bringing our brands to life through impactful in-stadium activations. During the 2023 season alone, our brands featured in over 70 hours of digital signage and distributed more than 71,000 samples to fans at events across the country.

Captain Morgan and Crown Royal set the standard at the 2025 Super Bowl, with bold, culture-first activations. Captain Morgan’s ‘Rum Street’ – featuring T-Pain and a takeover of Bourbon Street – delivered 7.6 billion impressions. Crown Royal’s celebrity-led NFL campaigns clocked 4.8 billion earned impressions, up 118% year-on-year.

Our unwavering commitment to responsible drinking is central to our sports partnerships. In the USA, we joined forces with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the NFL, and Uber to launch the “Take a Minute. Make a Plan.” The initiative highlights that the average NFL fan spends 690 minutes a week thinking about football and encourages them to dedicate just one of those minutes to planning a safe ride home and to never drive impaired.