INTEL: Soccer Team vs. Player Sponsorship: What Should Brands Do?

Corporations have many options in the U.S. sports sponsorship market, including soccer team and player endorsements.  According to Portada estimates, team and player endorsements have a share of more than 20% of the overall U.S. soccer-related advertising and media market of US $2.53 billion in 2024 (see table below. The other components are media (advertising), league sponsorships, and FIFA sponsorships allocated to the U.S.

Price Points for Team and Player Sponsorships

Price points for soccer team sponsorships vary widely. It depends on what the sponsorship encompasses, including stadium naming rights. MLS stadium naming rights typically cost US $10 million yearly, as well as jersey sponsorships or only specific experiential marketing activations. Another factor is the property (team) type; e.g., Mexican National Team sponsorships are priced higher than most MLS teams. Team sponsorships can also be partial, for instance, for a U.S. Tour and not global, e.g., the Mexican National Team U.S. Tour sponsorship for a company in the banking sector with category exclusivity, which lies at around US$1.5 million per year, insiders tell Portada.

On the other hand, player sponsorships can reach tens of millions of dollars, e.g., superstar Lionel Messi  with CPG giant PepsiCo to a few thousand dollars for individual activations of less popular players. Messi’s most significant endorsement was his lifetime agreement with the kit manufacturer Adidas. The Argentine forward earns  US $25 million yearly from this deal. (This is a global deal that includes the U.S.). The highest earning women’s soccer players earn around US $7 million thanks to endorsements, while the highest grossing man,

For soccer players who are not megastars, social media followership is an essential metric for establishing price points for player endorsements. As a rule of thumb, 10,000 Instagram followers translate into approximately US$ 1,000 in sponsorship value. (For instance, if a player has 100,000 Instagram followers, sponsorship value increases to US $10,000). There are additional factors that need to be taken into account for pricing. They include:

• The amount of production time needed for audiovisual spots and content
• Number of social media posts endorsing the brand
• Activations: Whether in-store/retail appearances are included/number of appearances (between US $5,000 to US $10,000 per appearance)
• Length of partnership overall

Soccer Team Sponsorship versus Player Endorsements; What makes sense when?

As Pedro Araujo, SVP of Marketing and Brand at Orlando City SC (MLS) and the Orlando Pride (NWSL), recently told Portada, “Generally, if the brand is interested in a specific region where the team is located, it will partner with the team and benefit from its intellectual property.  Suppose that is not the case, and the brand has objectives beyond local and regional. In that case, it will likely select a player with an appealing profile related to the brand’s target audience, e.g., nationality.  MLS teams, like Orlando City SC, can only market and sell sponsorships within a 100-mile radius.  That is why MLS team partners tend to be regionally focused.  The exception to the national or at least regional approach of player sponsorships versus the more local feature of team sponsorships are national teams and European soccer clubs, which have an enormous global fan base, such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich.

Nick Kelly, Verizon’s Vice President of Partnerships, told Portada in a recent interview that Verizon, a FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026 and Women’s World Cup 2027 sponsor, so far has not selected any player to sponsor for the 2026 and 2027 World Cups. “We are looking at it and exploring opportunities. We want a balance of male and female players to have a good mix across the board,” says Kelly.  “The right player profile will be selected depending on whether the objectives are local or national. Player endorsements usually materialize 4 to 5 months before the World Cup because that is when their schedules become clear.”

Generally, there is more flexibility if the brand works with a player vs. a team, and more creativity can be unleashed, e.g., the ability to have the player do on-site appearances or in-store autographs. Player selection is a matter of many factors. In the U.S., it will likely make sense to sponsor a player like Chicharrito or Jorge Campos to appeal to a Mexican-American audience. In contrast, European or South American megastars have a more national/global appeal.

Sometimes, soccer team and league sponsorships include player endorsements. For example, Tori Keichinger, VP and Head of Marketing at Century 21, recently told Portada that Century 21’s overall MLS sponsorship includes featuring up to four MLS club players in Century 21 creative.

DOWNLOAD Portada Insights Report: The Transformative Impact of Soccer on U.S. Sports Marketing,

Team Sponsorship and Player Sponsorships U.S. Investment Levels

According to Portada Insights Report: the Transformative Impact of Soccer on U.S. Sports Marketing, soccer team sponsorships in the U.S. market are expected to increase to US $1.14 billion by 2030, while player endorsements will reach US $193 million. Soccer Team sponsorship in the U.S, as well as soccer player sponsorship, has a lot of room for growth if we take into account that combined MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS team sponsorship sales amounted to US $ 6.7 billion in 2023, according to Sponsor United. In 2023, MLS team sponsorship revenue soared to US $587 million, a 15% year-over-year increase. VER

Source: Portada

Orlando City’s Araujo expects MLS team and league sponsorships and player endorsements to grow significantly after the 2026 men’s FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as the sport will increase in popularity. “They will get the tailwind after the World Cup,” he notes.

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