Toronto Star Referrer

How brands seek to score at World Cup

TIMOTHY DEWHIRST CONTRIBUTOR TI MOTHY DEWHIRST IS A PRO-FESSOR AND S E NIOR RESEARCH FELLOW I N MARKETING AND PUBLIC POLICY AT THE GORDON S . L ANG S CHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH.

There’s considerable enthusiasm regarding the state of soccer in Canada so it is no surprise that brands are lining up to be associated with the sport. Among children, soccer — not hockey — is the country’s most popular sport based on registered participants.

At the highest levels, the women’s team — led by Christine Sinclair — won the gold medal at the most recent Olympic Games in Tokyo. The men’s team returned to the FIFA World Cup — following a 36year absence — by winning its qualifying group ahead of Mexico and the .nited States. And Canada is co-host of the next World Cup in 2026.

Canada Soccer’s lead partner is CIBC. A key feature of its sponsorship agreement includes prominent CIBC branding appearing on the practice jerseys of the national teams. Still, publicity photos from the World Cup training sessions showed Alphonso Davies — the star of the men’s team — wearing a distinct jersey. Unlike his teammates, CIBC branding was notably absent on the practice jersey worn by Davies.

Davies is the face of several ongoing advertising campaigns. And among them are endorsements for BMO, a major bank directly competing with CIBC.

Davies also features in Biosteel advertisements, where he is seen training in a red jersey. Again, CIBC is not present, but Nike appears. Davies is an endorser of Nike, a brand that happens to be an additional partner of Canada Soccer.

Prior to the World Cup, Davies negotiated a separate licensing deal with Canada Soccer to receive royalties for the sale of his jersey. None of his teammates had such agreements in place.

These developments speak to the comparative stature of Davies. And he’s clearly attempting to serve his endorsed brands well by also minimizing any associations with direct competitors. Such a delicate marketing dance partially explains why Davies’ availability to the media was surprisingly limited during the World Cup.

Legendary U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps was not so diligent. Despite being an endorser of Under Armour, he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2016 wearing a track suit with Nike branding clearly visible (Nike served as a U.S. Olympic Committee sponsor and supplied Team USA apparel).

Evidently, with so many avenues of partnerships in play, it gets complicated. Davies — when playing for Bayern Munich — is seen wearing Adidas.

Carlsberg is another Canada Soccer partner, while Budweiser is a principal sponsor of the FIFA World Cup. And there’s always the possibility that one of the national team players might endorse a separate beer brand.

Known in business circles as “ambush marketing,” brands seek associations with a sports entity even though they’re not the official sponsorship rights holder. Ambush marketing is most observed at very highprofile sports events such as the Olympics or FIFA World Cup.

Sports are no longer a game. Rather, they’re highly contested commercialized spaces.

OPINION

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2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

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