With the recent TV deal being signed with ESPN, rumors floated that the National Women’s Soccer League were not quite done with their announcements. Early Sunday morning, the league dropped the news that Budweiser had signed a multi-year partnership with the National Women’s Soccer League as its first ever official beer sponsor.

Budweiser will fund on and off the field efforts

The sponsorship deal will see Budweiser have naming rights to the NWSL playoffs, the NWSL Championship, the Most Valuable Player trophy and a new awarded, the “Most Valuable Supporter” award which will go the NWSL’s biggest fan. This deal will be league-wide and will also look to engage the local teams and stadiums of the NWSL.

The partnership will also see players be given the chance to be involved in a off-season program that will educate them on the business side of sports with help from Budweiser executives. This is the biggest deal in league history so far and although no monetary amounts have been released, it’s a step in the right direction for a league that has seemingly so far, not capitalized on the attention the United States Women’s National Team and the Women’s World Cup has received.

Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Both the league and the company look to ‘propel efforts of the NWSL’

In a statement released by the league, Monica Rutsi, Budweiser’s VP of Marketing stated that the company had supported the USWNT for three decades but they felt that there was more that Budweiser could do to support the women’s game. By becoming the NWSL’s official beer sponsor, Budweiser wanted to not only support the USWNT once every four years, but also support women’s soccer “every single day”.

Amanda Duffy, the NWSL’s President, also released a statement about the deal. Duffy believes that Budweiser’s support is “significant and will amplify the visibility and influence of the league, our players and avid supporters”. Duffy also noted that the collaboration with U.S. Soccer and Soccer United Marketing (SUM) helped bring about this partnership as the NWSL looks to bring the “passion for World Cup play” to league games.

The NWSL continues to play out its 2019 season and the North Carolina Courage came away with a 5-2 win to start their July. There’s still a long way to go but the Courage sit in second and will have every chance to make the playoffs once again this year.