Global Scope: European Soccer Market

The United States of America is very unique in terms of their sports market. There are four, potentially five (if include the MLS) different sports that are generating money every year, with an already established and clear market. The four major sports/leagues in the USA are the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League. However, in Europe (similar to many parts of the world) there isn't really an already established and clear market for multiple sports. Depending on which part of Europe you are looking at there might be only football, while others may have a strong market for rugby, basketball, and other popular sports. Given the fact that most of Europe concentrates mainly in football, the biggest sponsorship deals are going to be found within the football teams.

A partnership between two consulting agencies, Sport Intelligence and PR Marketing, released information about the sponsorship deals that are made between European football clubs and major multinational brands. It is interesting to see the partnerships that  have been maintained for very long periods of time, highlighting the one between Bayern Munich and Adidas, that has been going strong for over 40 years. This year both sides also agreed to extend their partnership at least until 2020. Another interesting observation is that from the ten clubs listed below, all have deals with either Adidas or Nike except for Liverpool FC. This is the first year that Liverpool's kit is supplied by Warrior, an American company that is trying to get into the football market. Liverpool FC is owned by an American company called Fenway Sports Group (also the owners of the Boston Red Sox) since October of 2010 when they also bought Liverpool's home ground, Anfield.

A succesful partnership must be beneficial for both sides, and its not different when dealing with European football. These major brands such as nike and adidas are also making a lot of money with the partnerships with European clubs. As you can see below it seems that Adidas is leading in this category, but taking into consideration that Umbro is now a part of Nike, they end up with the top spot with 40% of the market share.