Sky strikes deal with Molson Coors

The companies have joined forces to create a package they say could benefit more than 70,000 outlets, including pubs, in the UK.

The deal works on a tiered system whereby licensees who order at least three Molson Coors core brands directly, one of which must be Carling, and keep them permanently on the bar will receive 10% off their Sky Ultimate package; licensees who order all of their beer from Molson Coors, including Carling and two other core brands, will get a 20% reduction and for licensees who order all of their drinks, including Carling and two other core beer brands, will get 33% off their Sky bill. As part of the latter package licensees will also get a price freeze on Carling for 18-months.

In all of the above cases, licensees will also get free WiFi through The Cloud.

Molson Coors refused to say how many pubs were eligible for the higher discount but said it hoped that overall “several hundred” would sign up in the first year, “climbing into the thousands” in the next two to three years.

Sky denied the deal was an attempt to woo licensees before hiking prices, following the £2.2bn it recently paid for live Premier League football rights, which is believed to be about 40% more than the total it paid last time.

“People take Sky because it is good for business,” said Bruce Cuthbert, director of sales. “It drives seven million people into pubs every week. This new deal is simply part of our ongoing strategy to add value for our customers and attract more people through their doors. There are 14 months left of the existing Premiership deal and we are not currently in a position to talk about what will happen to prices after that.”