Research by STAP, the Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy, has revealed that during the televised final match of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League between FC Barcelona and Manchester United the logo of beer brewer Heineken is visible for 28 minutes and 38 seconds. The researcher that analyzed the match, played on the 28th of May, counted 297 instances where the logo of Heineken was clearly visible and another 92 times where the logo was partly visible.
Analyzed were the 90 minutes of game time. The ceremony prior to the match, the preview of the match, the half time pause, the commentary afterwards and commercials were excluded from the analysis.
It was already known from competing beer brewer Carlsberg that during the world championship football of 2008, their logo’s were visible approximately 20 minutes per game. However, it seems that Heineken has raised the bar.
It has already been established that many minors attend popular football matches, and that even more minors around the world watch these matches as they are broadcasted on television. Therefore it is very likely that these nearly 30 minutes of sports sponsoring during the Champions League final reach an inordinate amount of young people. A worrying conclusion considering the known harmful effects of exposure to alcohol marketing by young people.