Large sporting events such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer are big business offering opportunities for sponsorship, merchandising licensed products, media broadcasting rights, along with promotion of national pride, identity and prestige.
Sponsors pay premium dollars to be associated with one of the world’s largest sporting events. Because events such as the World Cup of Soccer only happen every four years, the anticipation, hype and influence can intensify.
World Cup Sponsors
In 2010, the main World Cup TV sponsors are Adidas, AT&T, Budweiser, Hyundai and Sony. Many of these companies have designed multi-media campaigns including online and interactive and immediate social media programs to reach potential customers such as this Adidas YouTube video.
“The multibillion-dollar sports revenue cycle is dependent upon the successful relationship between sponsors, fans and event promoters. Sporting events, and their participants, are sold as consumer products to sports fans in the form of tickets and viewership. They are also integrated into sophisticated consumer product marketing campaigns which influence consumer behavior for the sponsoring companies.” (Sports Marketing by Phil Schaaf, Prometheus Books: 1995)
World Cup Soccer Marketing Results
The Nielsen Company market research company has been monitoring the effectiveness of the marketing and media aspects connected to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer. According to a July 1, 2010 Nielsen media release: “World Cup soccer telecasts aired on all English and Spanish language networks have reached an estimated 34% of all U.S. TV viewers. A total of 99.2 million U.S. viewers have watched at least six minutes of World Cup action through to June 29. The figure already surpasses the 91.4 million viewers who watched at least some of the games throughout the entire 2006 World Cup.”
Viewers in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market are watching the World Cup more than any other market in the U.S. for both English language and Spanish language World Cup telecasts. New York City is second, followed by Washington, DC and then San Diego.
TV Advertising of Soccer
Soccer is an exciting visual medium. TV advertisers in the U.S. and U.K. are seeing positive effects from their national World Cup advertising campaigns according to a Nielsen analysis of advertising effectiveness in the two countries.
“In the U.S, Nielsen monitored national advertising during weekend ABC and ESPN matches, plus all Team USA matches from June 11-26, and found that official sponsors connected better with World Cup fans. Nielsen data showed that the five primary World Cup TV sponsors (Adidas, AT&T, Budweiser, Hyundai and Sony) generated 55% higher Net Likeability on average compared to commercials from other, non-sponsor World Cup advertisers.”
“Nielsen data clearly shows an advantage for U.S. sponsors who have had an expanded presence in the matches with in-game or in-studio elements,” said Alan Gould, CEO of Nielsen IAG, which measures TV advertising effectiveness and program engagement. (As reported in a July 7, 2010 Nielsen media release)
As World Cup Soccer continues to unfold, companies such as Nielsen will be monitoring the marketing effectiveness of company sponsorships and media campaigns long after the last soccer ball has been kicked. Companies such as Adidas, AT&T, Budweiser, Hyundai and Sony can then evaluate their future participation and return on investment in large-scale international sporting events.
Resources:
Sports Marketing by Phil Schaaf, Prometheus Books.
For another view on Sports Marketing, read about Tiger Woods and his sponsor connections. Sports enthusiasts may also want to read about how to keep physically fit for sports or other fitness programs.
Bev Yaworski - Bev Yaworski is a published writer and photographer for magazines such as Green & Organic Lifestyles, various parenting publications such ...
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