Written by Alejandro Fernandez
Spanish Football, in particular La Liga, is a great place for brands to showcase and promote themselves if they want to gain a market share on the Iberian peninsula. Something which isn’t news to anyone. Many big brands are vying for a position to get closer to the followers and fans of the biggest clubs. The sponsorship deals give them access to a plethora of potential customers. Brands big and small are doing what they can to take advantage of the opportunity to do so.
Fans tend to prefer brands that support their team. It is a price that is worth paying. Recently, the popularity of Spanish football has led to growth in some strategic sectors, such as beers, soft drinks, banking. There have been key movements in the sponsorship deals in recent years as a result.
Here is an overview of the top sponsorship deals for the Spanish football industry.
1. Kit Sponsor
20 La Liga teams are being sponsored by 9 clothing brands. You will see Puma, Adidas, Kelme, Kappa, New Balance, Macon, Joma, Umbro and Nike on pitches across Spain. Adidas supply three different teams with kits, including Real Madrid, Celta de Vigo and Osasuna.
This season Nike are sponsoring more teams than anyone else, totalling six. Amongst their portfolio of La Liga clubs are Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
Macron are the next most common sponsor, with three teams: Real Sociedad, Cadiz and Levante.
2. Shirt Sponsors
Every La Liga club has their own shirt sponsor. Clubs have had to make a move away from betting companies, with many sponsors forced online to websites like www.oddsshark.com/canada. Last season even clubs had to ditch their sponsors as a result of the new law brought in by the Spanish Government banning any such partnerships.
Financial services have moved into that void and sponsor six La Liga teams, with telecommunications companies the next largest sector with three teams. Only Finetwork sponsor more than one team, holding deals with Real Betis and Real Sociedad.
Overall, 19 different companies from 10 different countries on the shirts of La Liga clubs represent what has become a diverse market.
3. Sleeve Sponsors
For now, just 12 teams have a sleeve sponsor, a drop of one from the last two years.
Reale Segurous is the one company that is going to be visible on the sleeves of various teams. The insurance company have agreements with Betis, Espanyol, and Real Sociedad. Apart from the insurance, automotive companies are the only sector with more than one sponsorship deal for kit sleeves.
The Top 6 Sponsors of the La Liga Clubs
When it comes to the rankings, you will notice Coca Cola dominating the space in the soft drinks sector. It shows an overwhelming dominance over all its competitors, featuring for almost 80% of the clubs of La Liga.
Another noteworthy sector is the beer sector, with a conventional fight between several brands presenting an interesting regional distribution. Mahou that clearly dominates all the Community of Madrid club, while Damm is now dominating most of the Mediterranean region. It has agreements with Espanyol, FC Barcelona, Valencia, and Girona in the second division.
Bottom Line
At present, La Liga lists 16 official partners on their website. The primary sponsor being Santander. It is also the title sponsor of the league. Additionally, the league has 9 global partners and 5 regional partners.
In comparison to the previous season, has dropped several regional partners and added just one, Burger King. The big change is that three different blockchain and cryptocurrency brands have partnered with La Liga, where none were present before.
The battle for the sponsorship of the football clubs, including La Liga in Spain is nothing surprising. It is a sector that deals with customers and consumption and brands are keen to take advantage of that. They can tap into the relationship that each club shares with its supporters across the world. By doing so they are able to achieve a more direct and cleaner impact than through traditional advertising, developing more leads and improving sales.
