Soccer is a competitive sport and car manufacturers like BMW, Audi and VW use this global platform to raise brand awareness.
It’s a known fact in the marketing community that pro athletes are the best ambassadors for premium brands. They help the brand expand the market, reach and tap into huge consumer segments that usually wouldn’t interact with the brand, and they give the company exposure and visibility. Not to mention that soccer players are trendsetters with impressive social media following, so the association with them makes the brand cooler and trendier. Additionally, professional soccer players represent perseverance, resilience, hard work, and raw talent, all of which are qualities that companies want to associate with.
“There is immense value for brands to tap into athlete sponsorship at the professional and elite level,” said Jasmine Chou, former sponsored Kona Ironman triathlete and author of #Sponsored: How Athletes and Brands Can Leverage Each other to Create Value. “Ambassadors have an audience that the brands may want to tap into, and they can keep a pulse on the brand’s targeted consumer trends and sentiments.”
Tapping professional soccer players has become a winning marketing strategy, so it’s not surprising that various automakers have sought the association with them. So, here are some of the car companies which sponsor or own soccer teams.
The German automotive industry contributes 5 percent to the overall GDP and supports 820,000 jobs, according to The Financial Times. Unsurprisingly, German citizens respect the domestic car brands. Given the significance of the sector and its social and economic impacts on Germany, it is not unexpected that these automakers are exerting every effort to maintain the positive engagement with the government and public. This entails averting a repeat of the VW diesel-emissions scandal, addressing societal issues, and boosting brand awareness through compelling marketing initiatives. One of the ways, these car companies maintain a positive brand image is through partnerships with athletes and professional teams. German automobile manufacturers favor these sponsorship opportunities because soccer is the most popular sport in Europe.
“It is estimated that the car industry is now spending $1.285 billion on general sports, with figures revealing that automotive companies spend 64 percent of their sponsorship money on sports as opposed to other sectors, such as entertainment, festivals and causes,” says CEO Today Magazine. “In the US alone, Volkswagen spend 55 percent of their sponsorship money on sport.”
Mercedes-Benz, for example, pays VfB Stuttgart players roughly $16.8m each year, but the long-term Mercedes-Benz Bank kit sponsorship deal will expire in 2023. The German automaker also paid to put its name on the VfB Stuttgart stadium, to call it the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Volkswagen, on the other hand, owns VfL Wolfsbur, which originally was a sports club for Volkswagen workers. But VW’s alliance with soccer doesn’t end here, considering that the German automaker is also an official partner of the DFB and the German national soccer team. Additionally, it supports soccer for the deaf and the education of potential coaches in Lower Saxony and the German Academy for Soccer Culture. Volkswagen also sponsors the women's and junior national teams. And if that wasn’t enough, Volkswagen is a supporter of the national associations of France, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Luxembourg, and the USA, according to Volkswagen Aktiengesellscaht.
“In Sweden, Volkswagen is a partner of the soccer leagues. In Germany, Volkswagen is also a partner of clubs at its own company locations: from VfL Wolfsburg and VfL Osnabrück to Hessen Kassel, FSV Zwickau and Chemnitzer FC. Then there is the club sponsoring of RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen,” says Volkswagen Aktiengesellscaht.
And let's not forget that US soccer star, Christian Pulisic, is an ambassador for Volkswagen.
As for BMW, it replaced Audi as the official partner of Real Madrid, a deal which saw the players receiving luxury BMW cars. And the German luxury car manufacturer also sponsors AC Milan. Meanwhile, Audi has just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the partnership with FC Bayern Munich. In 2009, the German car manufacturer debuted the Audi Cup. And in 2021, Audi announced it will sponsor FC Bayern Women.
Not just well-known German automakers seek alliances with top soccer teams. As such, Renault-owned Dacia sponsor Italian Serie A Club Udinese. In 2016, the Italian team sold the stadium naming rights to Dacia. Elsewhere, Renault sponsored Premier League football coverage on Sky Sports until this year. While Fiat sponsors the Azzurri or the Italian football team. And Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has a shirt sponsorship deal with Juventus, which means that the word “Jeep” will remain on the official shirts until the 2023/2024 season.
According to the agreement that kicked off at the start of the 2021/2022 season, the automaker pays the 2019/2020 Serie A champions a base fee of US$46.9 million plus further incentives “for the Jeep brand to remain on the front of the team’s jerseys through 2023/2024,” says Medium.
Sources: Sourcing Journal, Medium, Semiconductor Engineering, CEO Today Magazine, Footy Headlines, Pledge Times, Audi, AC Milan, AS, and Volkswagen Aktiengesellscaht.
Adina Achim is a journalist with vast knowledge and experience in the luxury industry. She is passionate about luxury car brands, technological trends in the automotive industry, and exotic cars.