Fifa, world football’s governing body, has announced details of a revamp of its sponsorship strategy for the World Cup competition.
For the first time ever Fifa will offer companies the opportunity to purchase regional sponsorship packages for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which will take place in Russia and Qatar, respectively.
Fifa’s current sponsorship model, which was implemented in 2007 and covers the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, consists of three tiers of commercial affiliates – Fifa Partners, Fifa World Cup Sponsors and National Supporters.
As of 2015, this will be altered with the third tier of sponsorship being transformed. The top two tiers will remain mostly unchanged, with a total of 14 companies occupying the Fifa Partner and Fifa World Cup Sponsor positions.
However, the third tier will become classed as ‘Regional Supporters’. This tier can amount to a total of 20 brands from the five pre-defined regions of North America, South America, Europe, Middle East/Africa and Asia.
“The current commercial structure has proven to be very successful for the last two editions of the Fifa World Cup, with no packages left unsold,” Fifa marketing director Thierry Weil said. “However, we felt it was time for a change.”
Commenting on the reasons for the change, Weil added: “The demand is there. Having observed our current structure it became clear that there is an interest from brands in broadening the scope of the National Supporter engagements, not only to cover the host country.
“The regional approach also offers a more targeted way for commercial affiliates to engage with their target audience, offering companies who do not have the desire or the means to enter into a global sponsorship agreement to acquire rights which cover a significant geographical region. For example a company who is interested in the region of South America can now acquire the corresponding rights and not have to purchase a global package. The value proposition is much stronger.”
Fifa sponsors that have already agreed deals for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups are Coca-Cola, Hyundai-Kia, Gazprom and Anheuser-Busch InBev.