Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has today (Wednesday) been announced as an official sponsor of the next two editions of football’s Fifa World Cup.
Under the agreement, Vivo will serve as the official smartphone sponsor of Fifa, football’s global governing body, as well as the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The agreement also covers the upcoming Confederations Cup competition, which will run from June 17 to July 2 in Russia, and the 2021 Confederations Cup in Qatar.
Vivo will benefit from pitch-side advertising during every match at the four tournaments, while its logo will also appear on match tickets, media releases and other promotional platforms.
The partnership also grants Vivo special marketing activations such as the right to select guests to be a phone photographer during pre-match warm-ups. Additionally, Vivo will introduce a World Cup-branded phone.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Financial Times newspaper said Vivo will pay around €60m ($65.9m) to €70m per year for the rights.
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura said: “Football and technology are coming closer by the day, on and off the pitch, and it is a great moment to start a partnership of this nature with the leading global smartphone brand. We are very excited to be working closely with Vivo and keen to see their involvement in the next editions of the Fifa World Cup and Fifa Confederations Cup.”
Vivo becomes Fifa’s fourth second-tier World Cup sponsor, joining Budweiser, Hisense and McDonald’s.