Spanish telco operator Telefónica has chosen not to extend sponsorship deals worth tens of millions of euros per year on Spain’s leading football assets.
Telefónica, promoting its telco brand Movistar, had used the sponsorships of Real Madrid, Barcelona and the Spanish national team to supplement its domestic media rights agreement for LaLiga.
But the operator is expected to focus more strongly on sponsorships that generate digital content, including esports, withdrawing around €30m in annual fees from Spanish football, according to Sports Sponsorship Insider research.
- In February 2015, Telefónica signed a three-year Regional Partner agreement covering Latin America with Barcelona, worth €13m per year from 2015-16 to 2017-18.
- In February 2017, Telefónica signed a 17-month agreement worth around €10m per year pro rata to become a Global Sponsor of Real Madrid.
- Movistar was one of three top-tier Main Partners of the Spanish national football federation under a two-year deal from 2017 until after the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The deal was worth between €7m and €8m per year.
According to the most recent Sports Sponsorship Barometer by SPSG Consulting and ESADE business school in Barcelona, Movistar is the third-ranked brand most linked to sport in Spain, behind Coca-Cola and Santander.