Coca-Cola stacks Australian sport portfolio with Rugby World Cup deal

Coca-Cola is building a bigger play around Australian sport, adding Rugby Australia and Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 to a sponsorship portfolio that has recently stretched across football, rugby league and now rugby union.

The brand has signed two new partnerships, becoming an official partner of Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 and a gold sponsor of Rugby Australia, including the Wallabies and Wallaroos.

The announcement follows recent Coca-Cola activity across major sport properties, including rugby league and the FIFA World Cup, suggesting a broader push to use sport as a platform for mass attention, fan experience, community connection and customer activation.

The rugby union partnerships were launched with a drone show over Sydney Harbour, giving the deal a high-profile consumer moment more than a year before the tournament begins.

Kate Miller, marketing director at Coca-Cola South Pacific, told this masthead that sport has long played a role in the brand’s marketing globally, but remains especially powerful in Australia because of its ability to create shared experiences.

“Coca-Cola has always embraced Australians’ particular love of sport, and sport has played an important role for the brand globally,” Miller said.

“For more than 140 years, Coca-Cola has partnered with some of the world’s biggest sporting moments because sport has a unique ability to bring people together and create shared experiences.”

Miller said rugby offered a combination of global scale and local community relevance, making it a natural platform for the brand.

“Rugby in particular offers a powerful combination of global reach and strong local community connections, making it a natural platform for Coca-Cola to engage fans and celebrate the moments that unite people,” she said.

“These partnerships reflect Coca-Cola’s ongoing commitment to supporting sport at a local and global level to create meaningful connections with fans.”

Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 will be held in Australia from 1 October to 13 November 2027, with an expanded 24-team format across seven host cities and eight venues.

As the exclusive non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage partner, excluding coffee and energy drinks, Coca-Cola will hold pouring rights across tournament food and beverage facilities, including official bars, VIP functions and fan festivals.

The Rugby Australia deal runs for two years and will see Coca-Cola work with the national body across key international windows ahead of the 2027 tournament.

Ahmed Rady, vice president and general manager at Coca-Cola Australia, said the partnerships would allow the brand to connect with fans from national teams through to the World Cup itself.

“For generations, Coca-Cola has been part of the moments that bring people together, and few opportunities are more powerful than sport,” Rady said.

“These partnerships allow us to connect with fans at every level of the game, from supporting Australia’s national teams through to helping deliver one of the world’s biggest sporting events when Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 comes to Australia.”

Miller said Coca-Cola’s sport strategy today is focused less on sponsorship as logo placement and more on creating fan experiences around live events, broadcast viewing, hospitality and community engagement.

“Sport continues to be a powerful way for Coca-Cola to connect with Australians,” she said.

“Today, the focus is on creating memorable experiences that bring fans closer to the sports they love, whether that’s supporting national teams, engaging with communities, or helping deliver world-class sporting events.”

She said the Rugby Australia and Men’s Rugby World Cup partnerships allow the brand to connect across multiple levels of the sport.

“Partnerships such as Rugby Australia and Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 allow Coca-Cola to connect with fans at every level of the game, from grassroots passion through to major international tournaments hosted on Australian soil,” Miller said.

Asked whether the strategy was about reach or cultural moments, Miller said the focus was on creating meaningful fan moments.

“It’s about creating meaningful moments for fans,” she said.

“Coca-Cola believes sport is one of the most powerful ways to bring people together, and these partnerships provide opportunities to create memorable experiences that celebrate passion, connection and community.

“From the sofa to the stadium, and everywhere in between, Coca-Cola wants to help make those moments more enjoyable and bring supporters closer to the action.”

That “sofa to stadium” approach is central to how brands are increasingly using sport sponsorships, connecting broadcast audiences, live events, retail, hospitality and digital engagement rather than treating partnerships as one-off branding plays.

Miller said success would be measured through fan, customer and community engagement rather than a single metric.

“For Coca-Cola, success is about creating meaningful connections with fans, customers and communities,” she said.

“Through these partnerships, Coca-Cola will deliver fan-first activations, customer programs, premium hospitality and exclusive experiences designed to bring people closer to the sport.

“The focus is on engaging consumers, supporting customers, and creating memorable experiences that strengthen connections with the brand and the game.”

Chris Stanley, managing director of Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, said securing Coca-Cola was a significant milestone for the tournament.

“Securing a global brand of Coca-Cola’s scale and stature is a significant milestone for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 and a strong endorsement of both the tournament and the opportunity it presents for fans, partners and communities across Australia,” Stanley said.

Phil Waugh, chief executive officer at Rugby Australia, said the partnership comes as Australian rugby builds towards both the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups on home soil in 2027 and 2029.

“Coca-Cola is a global icon with a long and celebrated history of supporting many of the world’s premier sports events, leagues and teams,” Waugh said.

“We are therefore thrilled to welcome Coca-Cola into the Rugby Australia family as a gold sponsor for at least the next two years as we build towards pinnacle events including the home Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups in 2027 and 2029.”

Miller said Coca-Cola’s work with Rugby Australia would begin well before the 2027 tournament window.

“The focus is on building momentum from now through to 2027 by working closely with Rugby Australia, supporting the Wallabies and Wallaroos, and engaging fans throughout the rugby journey,” she said.

“Coca-Cola’s partnership extends beyond the tournament itself and will come to life through activations, experiences and programs that bring fans closer to the game.

“The goal is to create excitement over time and ensure fans are at the centre of every moment as Australia prepares to welcome the world for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027.”

The latest deal adds another major code to Coca-Cola’s Australian sport roster as brands increasingly look to sport for scale, shared cultural moments and a closer link between media, retail and live experience.