The 8 Biggest Brand Sponsors in Sport
Big brands across the world are all clamouring for consumer attention. Attaching a brand to a major sports event, team or competition can have a far reaching influence for a brand and can create brand loyalty like nothing else. Let's take a look at the biggest brands that sponsorship sports.
8. Castrol
British oil giants Castrol are synonymous with motor sport racing, beginning with their sponsorship of McLaren in 1979, They've also sponsored World Rally Championship teams since 2003, sponsored Le Mans Prototypes since 2011 and has had agreements in place with Volkswagen, Audi and BMW motor sport teams.
Perhaps the most iconic and memorable Castrol sponsorship was that of Toyota Motorsport in the World Rally Championship between 1993 and 1998. Their sponsorship coincided with Japan's first ever manufacturers' title in the WRC, with the iconic Toyota Motorsport Toyota Celica GT-Four the most successful Japanese rally car ever. Take a look below, truly memorising and a nostalgic step back in time.
In North America Castrol has been an active sponsor of NHRA drag racing, the CARD World Series, IndyCar, NASCAR and also had a Canadian raceway in Edmonton named the Castrol Raceway. In Australia, Castrol has a long history of supporting V8 Supercar racing and has held naming rights over the years for certain race events.
Castrol has also had sponsorship arrangements in place outside of motor sports with the NFL, the Premier League, cricket, rugby union, the Champions League and FIFA World Cup.
7. Reebok
The sportswear manufacturer Reebok has had endorsements with soccer superstars including Thierry Henry, Andriy Schevchenko and Ryan Giggs. Clubs such as Liverpool were sponsored by Reebok and Bolton Wanderers home ground opened in 1997 with the name Reebok Stadium up until 2014.
Reebok's primary focus has been deals with individual athletes such as prominent Indian cricketer MS Dhoni. A lifetime deal remains in place with Allen Iverson with nets him $800,000 annually and he will have access to a $32m trust in 2030. Other deals include endorsements of the NFL's Watt brothers and Devonta Freeman. Reebok did offer an 18-year old LeBron James a $10m check to not meet with Nike and Adidas but he ultimately signed with Nike.
For 10 years Reebok held the exclusive rights to manufacture and market authentic and replica NFL jerseys as well as a 10-year deal for NHL kits from 2007. In 2004 they held a deal to become the official shoe supplier in the MLB and they've also held deals with the Canadian Football League. Reebok was purchased by Adidas in 2006 for $4.9b and many deals for the parent company focused on the Adidas brand thereafter.
Historically the company has been heavily involved in sponsoring individual track and field athletes but for over six-years the UFC-Reebok deal helped legitimise the UFC as it exploded in popularity into the mainstream.
The apparel deal signed in 2014 helped the UFC with uniformity and a clean and crisp brand image. During the partnership Reebok paid out almost $40m of prize money to fighters, with Conor McGregor the most prominent Reebok sponsored athlete.
6. Adidas
The German apparel giant was founded by Adi, the brother of Puma founder Rudolf Dassler. The company has a huge footprint in soccer with 73% of its $1.4b annual budget going towards soccer. Adidas is the official sponsor of many national teams including Germany, Spain, Argentina and Mexico. They are the official sponsors of the Champions League and the Adidas Finale is the official match ball of the competition.
Adidas was the NBA's uniform and apparel supplier from 2006 - when it acquired Reebok - up until 2017. Since 1996 Adidas has been a big sponsor of Major League Soccer and signed a six-year $700m extension in 2020. The company is the official kit supplier of the NHL until at least 2025 and sponsors individual NFL athletes such as Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes.
The company however spends more on futsal than both basketball and ice hockey combined, such is their focus on soccer. Adidas is a major sponsor of Bayern Munich and the comany signed the biggest kit deal in history, a minimum guaranteed $1.29b deal with Manchester United over ten years.
The apparel of the world famous New Zealand All Blacks is supplied by Adidas as well as the France and Italy rugby national teams. The company's biggest individual sponsorship agreements are with athletes including Andy Murray, Usain Bolt and Aaron Rodgers.
...OK tribe I'll be back tomorrow with Part 2 of the biggest brand sponsors in sport.
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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.
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Brands have always been a key player in sports because they earn a lot, but the athlete or team that is sponsored also earns a lot. Jordan is a brand that has many NBA players sponsored for life, they can really do things incredible and it is a giant market that they can exploit.
Jordan is next level. Can't believe how much its exploded. I suppose the brand is attached to Jordan as a player
If the Jordan brand is already completely linked to the player, even Jordan became richer with the clothing brand than playing.
Wow Castrol! I wouldn't have guessed that in a month of Sundays!
Big surprise for me too! Step back in time too. Can't remember the game but it was at an arcade driving around the Castrol Celica!
Rebook and addidas should be a bit higher i think.
They're good brands, they just don't have the exposure across a wider variety of sports like the others. Reebok lost a lot of the big sponsorship deals it had when Adidas bought them out. Adidas also spends a huge portion of its budget on football which limits its exposure across other sports and regions throughout the world