The last two days I've posted about the biggest brands in sports. Part 1 is here and part 2 is available here. We've covered oil giants Castrol who were a surprise to many.
German apparel giants Reebok and Adidas made the list, followed by Nike, Samsung and Coca-Cola. Let's take a look at the two biggest brand sponsors in sports.
Can you guess who they might be?
2nd – Red Bull
Red Bull has advertised and gained worldwide brand recognition through sports from its founding in the 80's. The company has an exceptionnally strong history with extreme sports and motor racing. F1 racing teams Scuderia Alpha Tauri and Red Bull Racing and are both owned by Red Bull, with the latter winning four Constructors' Championships and five Driver's Championships since it's founding in 2005.
Red Bull has a fiercely aggressive sports sponsorship strategy by sports team ownership. Red Bull purchased Austrian team SV Austria Salzburg in 2005 and renamed the side Red Bull Salzburg and initially renouncing any association of the entire clubs history. The team also plays out of the appropriately named Red Bull Arena.
Bundesliga side RB Leipzig is owned by Red Bull and plays at Red Bull Arena. To circumvent Bundesliga rules which prevent corproate names being used in a team name, the club is officially known as RasenBallsport Leipzig (Lawn Ball Sports Leipzig) and therefore use the initials RB for RasenBallsport. Other football commitments include New York Red Bulls in the MLS and Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil.
In recent times the brand has made a strong presence in sponsoring eSports, and sponsored more than 750 eSport athletes in 2016.
1st – PepsiCo
PepsiCo and their brand Pepsi is the biggest sponsor of sports in the world and spends a total of about $3b on advertising annually. The company has a strategy of strongly sponsoring leagues and tournaments in addition to individual teams and athletes.
In 2015, PepsiCo partnered with the NBA ending a 28-year relationship they had with Coca-Cola in a deal which involves PepsiCo soda and snack brand. One of the most marketable players in the world, Lebron James, ended a 17-year association with Coca-Cola in 2021 and is the face of PepsiCo's Mountain Dew energy drink.
In 2023 PepsiCo's Gatorade brand reaches the 40 years milestone of sponsoring the NFL. The Super Bowl halftime show and the NFL Rookie of the Week awards both carry the Pepsi name in it. PepsiCo also has a long standing sponsorship with the NHL in place and has already sponsored the MLB and MLS in the past. The company also retains corporate partnerships with individual teams, half of the teams in the NHL having their own corporate sponsorship deals in place with PepsiCo.
In soccer Pepsi sponsors the UEFA Champions League as well as one of the greatest footballers of all time in Lionel Messi. Other significant endorsement deals include Paul Pogba, Mo Salah, Saquon Barkley, Bradley Beal, Aaron Judge and the Pakistan international cricket team. Denver's Ball Arena, home to the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, was also called the Pepsi Center for 21 years.
It's a little ironic however that the biggest sponsor in sports, isn't so healthy ..
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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.