Late April saw Captain Morgan team up with gaming site FanDuel for an MLS/CPL betting contest which offers players cash rewards for making winning picks on professional soccer games.
The ‘Captain Morgan Soccer Pick ‘Em’ contest runs every Saturday and on other match days throughout the regular season and postseason for both the Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA and the new Canadian Premier League (CPL) in Canada.
The initiative’s mechanic invites soccer supporters aged 21 and older who have a FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) account to enter by making predictions about that day’s games and earn points for their correct picks. Each week, Captain Morgan and FanDuel will split a prize pool of $3,000 among those fans with the most accurate predictions.
The initiative is being promoted via a social-first campaign running across both brands’ online platforms.
Put your MLS knowledge to a test with Captain Morgan’s Soccer Pick ‘Em!
It's a FREE weekly contest where you can win a share of $3K in prizes
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) April 23, 2021
Vice President Captain Morgan VP Sam Salameh commented: “All of us at Captain Morgan have been waiting for this season for several months, and we know that there are millions of soccer fans who are just as eager as we are to see the teams back in action at their stadiums, again. We know that soccer fans are some of the most passionate in all sports and we can’t wait to help fuel that passion. We are very excited to have found a partner like FanDuel this season, who will help us to offer fans new ways to consume and engage with the game we all love ”.
“The enthusiasm for soccer in America is on the rise and we are very excited to work with Captain Morgan as our first soccer partner before what, without a doubt, it will be a season to go down in history,” added fanDuel VP Sponsorship Alyssa Zelenik. “Zeleznik added: “We are fully aligned with Captain Morgan in the sense that both brands have endeavored to offer fans a fun and engaging way to improve their experience. And, we can’t wait to start this soccer season “.
Captain Morgan is an official sponsor of the MLS (although the betting partnership campaign doesn’t specifically mention the MLS or the CPL by name).
The Diageo-owned rum brand is also running an MLS integrated marketing campaign called ‘Sub In The Captain’ through the season to ignite and inspire the gameday routines of North American soccer supporters which is based around football/sport wordplay playing off the practice of substituting players during games.
An initiative which also ambushed NCAA March Madness earlier in 2021.
Put me in, coach. #SubInTheCaptain pic.twitter.com/m3Wg4RaunL
— Captain Morgan (@CaptainMorganUS) March 5, 2021
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In July 2019 that Captain Morgan signed an agreement with MLS to become the league’s official spiced rum and exclusive spirits partner through 2022 and at that time it also penned partnerships with five MLS teams (Chicago Fire, D.C. United, New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union and the Seattle Sounders). And in February 2020 it teamed up with another four clubs (Inter Miami CF, Los Angeles FC, Minnesota United and Nashville Soccer Club). These agreements also include Captain Morgan branding at Inter Miami CF Stadium, the Banc of California Stadium, Allianz Field and Nissan Stadium.
“From New York to Seattle to Los Angeles, everything about Major League Soccer, its intensely passionate fanbase, the atmosphere at each match, and the exciting growth of the sport in the U.S. mirrors the energy that Captain Morgan stands for,” said Diageo Senior VP of Rum Christina Choi when the deals were announced. “Our goal is to reward that dedicated fanbase, and the crews that get together to support their clubs each and every week, with the fun only Captain can bring because we know there is more fun to be had.”
The partnerships have seen fans able to purchase custom labeled bottles of Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum featuring official team colors and crests, the brand has also run special soccer supporters club events across the country.
The rum brand has long linked itself to sports properties and personalities through its global ‘Captain’ positioning: for example, marketing dates back to its 2017 athlete ambassador campaign in the UK.
Since it has partnered with the MLS, Captain Morgan has created a series of on-the-ground soccer activations, as well as social and TV content as US sports organisations continue to open up to alcohol brand partnership (other examples of this include the NBA’s partnership with Cognac brand Hennessy as well as whiskey brand Jack Daniels and Crown Royal Whiskey’s NFL tie-up).
This latest betting-based contest sees Captain Morgan target young adult soccer supporters by leveraging the nationwide rise in US sports betting.
Daily fantasy sports and sports betting continues to grow in popularity and, according to a 2019 survey by the US Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association, around 46 million people in the USA play fantasy sports. And 50% of them are in Captain Morgan’s primary 18 to 34 target demographic.
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