American football has become the go-to sport across the U.S., ousting America’s classic pastime, baseball, drawing more viewers than ever before.
24 of the 26 most-watched sporting events happened to involve the National Football League, and many brand’s would kill for that kind of exposure. It’s something General Motors has been a part of since 2001, when the automaker signed on us the official sponsor of the league. But, GM has officially ended its partnership with the NFL as of last season, leaving the playing field wide open.
Now, it looks like Hyundai is looking for the spotlight. According to a report from Forbes, Hyundai is very close to replacing General Motors as the league’s official sponsor. This comes at a time when the Korean automaker’s sales have gone stagnant, with its stocks hitting a five-year low.
To throw some insight at you, consider this: 43 percent of self-described “avid” fans of the NFL answered “affirmative” to whether it was important to know which companies officially sponsored the league in a Turnkey survey conducted. 37 percent indicated they would be more likely to recommend a product to a friend or family member based on a sponsorship.
That kind of reach comes at a price, however. General Motors has been paying $25 million annually to secure the partnership, and we can’t imagine the NFL offering the same contract for an incoming sponsor. Also, that excludes advertising during the games.
Still, be prepared to see less GM come the 2015 NFL season.
Comments
I always thought it was a bit odd that the nfl would have their own sponsorship then every 32 teams would have their individual deals, some were with GM some with ford etc. I think if done right individual team and ad sponsorship is more valuable. People cheer and are loyal to their team not the shield
Let me get this straight. GM thinks it’s smarter to have Chevrolet pay insane amounts of dough to sponsor Manu in a market where they are next to irrelevant with that brand vs. sponsor a sport where they certainly punch above their weight class with the viewers given they are over indexed to rural parts of the country.
I’m no expert on marketing ROI, but I don’t think this passes the sniff test. One could make an argument that they don’t need to spend as much to advertise since those folks might already be brand loyalists, but it’s still a fishy trade to me.
It really gripes me to see foreign car manufacturers move in to take over big name sports. Daytona, Indianapolis, NFL, MLB,and golf.
Get the true American Autos back where they belong.
Daytona is called “the great American race”. Bull, Foreign cars should not even be driven in that race.
Baseball is an American sport, yet who is the big sponcer, Toyota. That sucks!
Nuff said!
Well, that ‘official truck of the NFL’ bought GMC next to nothing.
You can’t show an individual team logo, or 2, or 5 of them – you have to show all.
Also, strict rules about stadiums, and whether the lead sponsor (usually Ford) will allow signage. Granted, $25m is a lot less ridiculous than the Man U deal, but basically, you’re buying rights to sponsor the pregame show, or post-game, or Never-Say-Never moment of the game. That’s about it. Maybe some YouTube videos with Mike Tirico.
But Hyundai being official vehicle of the NFL is about as ridiculous and ineffective as Kia being the official vehicle of the NBA. And don’t look for the NFL contract to be $25m this time around.