Heineken Spotlights VTO Policy in FIFA World Cup Campaign

As the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaches, Heineken is encouraging its employees to take time off. 

With almost half of this summer’s matches taking place during US work hours, Heineken’s World Cup campaign is focusing on allowing employees to watch as many games as possible. 

The company has introduced Heineken Fan Volunteers, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to spotlight a benefit rarely used by employees – Volunteer Time Off (VTO). The campaign has been designed to turn this benefit into a new way for football fans to connect and give back to their communities. 

Employees are offered up to three days per year of paid VTO, which sits outside of their regular PTO policy. 

“We're making it easy for fans to utilise Volunteer Time Off, a benefit they likely already have in their favour, so they can potentially watch matches aired during working hours together, give back to their communities and connect with other fans over a Heineken,” says Alison Payne, Chief Marketing Officer of Heineken USA.

The campaign was launched alongside a company film, styled as a corporate training video that introduces Heineken Fan Volunteers as a solution to match viewing. 

Bringing fans together

According to Heineken, more than half of US desk workers admit that they have lied to their employer to watch a football match. Alongside that, three quarters of desk workers in the US have said they find themselves ‘secretly’ checking scores or streaming matches they care about during the day. 

Heineken says that its Fan Volunteers campaign is designed to remove these barriers by helping football fans turn their VTO into a shared experience – volunteering with local charities and communities alongside fellow football fans and coming together to possibly watch a match. 

The company launched this initiative in Miami and New York City in early May, with employees using their VTO while watching the UEFA Semi-Finals. 

This, Heineken said, helped create a positive impact in local communities while giving staff an opportunity to connect. 

Nearly 200 Fan Volunteers joined across both cities. In New York City, they packed 3,250 meals for Broadway Community’s soup kitchen, and in Miami they cleared 3,100 square feet of green space at Virginia Key Beach.

Meaningful community impact

For the World Cup, employees will be able to find, through Heineken, local volunteer opportunities that align with match days. 

Each of these activations will be hosted in partnership with registered nonprofit organisations, so Heineken can ensure that a meaningful community impact is made while championing the fan experience. 

The campaign was also launched as part of Heineken’s ongoing ‘Fans have More Friends’ platform – which highlights Heineken’s key partnership with brands such as Formula 1 to encourage connection between fans. 

“Earlier this year Heineken launched our Fans Have More Friends global campaign highlighting how a shared passion for sports or music can bring strangers together as friends,” Alison says. 

“Marrying this global campaign with this summer's highly anticipated soccer season, we set out to create more opportunities for shared fandom with the introduction of Heineken Fan Volunteers.”