The 20 best known European Football brands

Posted on by Karl Lusbec

I love sports market studies. Not only do they show a crude reality at a specific moment in time, but they also show a quite accurate evolution throughout the years. On January 21st 2010, Sport+Markt issued an interesting market report: The 20 best-known European football sponsors 2009-2010.

In a nutshell: adidas, Nike and Puma are the best-known football sponsors in the five largest European football markets[1]. This is a result from the SPORT+MARKT Report “European Football Brands Top 20 2009/10″, with the survey of over 3,000 European football fans.

Wow…….Is this a scoop to you?  Not to me.  Football fans are smart (yes they are….) and they do realise the impact that adidas, Nike and Puma have on football. It actually ties back to one of my previous posts where I was mentioning that adidas, Nike and Puma will be 3 powerful players on the field of play during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  Nothing new right?  So the crude reality is that the 3 major football brands are found in spots 1-2 and 3.  They are global football brands and always will be.

The previous benchmark of this study was in 2004-2005.  What is the evolution I was highlighting at the beginning of this article?  A couple of points.

1. The emerging of new brands in the football landscape

I think essentially of Emirates and Bwin in the top 10.  The Dubai Airline has a first class seat in football.  First and foremost by being an official FIFA partner.  Secondly by being the major partner of Arsenal, but also by signing a significant shirt sponsorship deal with AC Milan from 2010 until 2015.  On top of that, Emirates is the shirt sponsor of Hamburger SV, Olimpiacos and the “charismatic” Paris St Germain.  On a football confederation perspective, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum (Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive) remains committed to the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) until 2016. 

Bwin has a similar approach.  Partnering with global clubs (Real Madrid, AC Milan) and creating a massive marketing buzz in Italyand Spain where gambling is not banned by law as opposed to France and Germany. What is interesting to notice is that Bwin is quite a “new” player in the market and it’s impressive to already see them in the top 10 od the 20 best known European football brands.  You will notice that the audience awareness of Bwin in the UK is weak.

Samsung and AIG who did not have an exposure in football are now both in the top 10 and are getting their return on investment from their respectively Chelsea and Man Utd deals.

2. The regulars and one surprise

Next, brands such as Coca-Cola, Sony, Mastercard and Heineken have been part of the football landscape for some time now, so no wonder they have a strong relevance in the 5 key football markets.  They have smartly secured football ownership throughout the years, and Coca-Cola who were already in the top 10 in 2005 is now ranked 3rd.  Impressive for a non football manufacturer.

The surprise to me is to see Unicef entering the top 20.  It is a pleasant surprise considering their area of expertise and has to be pointed out. Unicef is the shirt sponsor of FC Barcelona.  It was a big buzz when it happened, knowing how “selective” the club from Cataluna is when it comes to their home jersey.  It is now a big success and great marketing story.

Basically, those 20 brands play a significant role in football.  Not only because of their financial involvement, but mainly because they have a vision for the sport and thinking in a long term perspective.  The main evolution is to see brands where football is not their “bread and butter” playing a key role and overtaking traditional football brands.

What do you think?  Would you rather see a stronger involvement from other football manufacturers (ie Kappa)?  Let us know your thoughts.

[1] *Germany, U.K., France, Spain and Italy.