English football’s top flight is toasting a £40m sponsorship deal with Guinness after the Diageo-owned brand saw off competition from Heineken.

Sky News has learnt that the Premier League has informed its 20 clubs, which include Everton, Manchester City and Sheffield United, that it is backing a £10m-a-year agreement beginning next season.

The deal, which has not yet been formally signed, represents a big financial uplift on the Premier League’s existing partnership with Budweiser’s owner, AB InBev.

Guinness has historically been more closely associated with promoting itself through an association with rugby union – through the sport’s Premiership and Six Nations competitions – than football.

One Premier League club executive said they had been told the Guinness deal was valued at over £41m over its four-year duration.

Budweiser has been associated with the Premier League for the last five years, while it has also been a principal sponsor of the FA Cup.

The proposed agreement comes at a time of unprecedented scrutiny of the Premier League’s finances after its failure to reach a redistribution settlement with the English Football League.

Read more from business:
Post Office scandal ‘extends beyond Horizon’
TikTok ban in US moves a step closer
Lloyds profits plunge following record year

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

This week’s second reading of the Football Governance Bill represented another step towards the creation of an independent watchdog for the sport.

Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, has warned in the last fortnight that more intense regulation will risk damaging the English football pyramid.

The Premier League and Diageo declined to comment.

Related posts:

Failure to tackle ‘hard edges’ of COVID-19 support, criticised by MPs Ministers to ban ‘rewards for failure’ in governance crackdown Why paltry sum raised for Treasury in 5G spectrum auction is actually good news Channel 4 is no stranger to privatisation talk – but this feels different Two more energy suppliers collapse as pipeline delay prompts fresh gas price spike Public finances manage January surplus despite £6.1bn interest payment hit Number of pubs falls by 7,000 in a decade to lowest number on record 9 tips to reduce how much petrol or diesel you use amid record fuel prices London float on horizon for Wyoming silica miner Extrac Technologies Retail sales jumped 0.7% last month with sunshine boost helping beat expectations Tea drinkers warned of ‘supply issues’ affecting supermarket stock Vet prices investigation over concerns pet owners being overcharged