April 14 – With the MLS season kicking off on Friday, the league has announced a five-year deal sponsorship with Procter & Gamble, reportedly worth $80-100 million.
The sponsorship will cover the MLS All-Star Game, as well as the Campeones Cup, Leagues Cup and the Mexico men’s national team’s US tour.
The MLS said that P&G will also work with the league and other partners “to make soccer accessible at all levels through overcoming barriers such as cost and travel”.
MLS inventory will be used for P&G brands including Gillette, Old Spice, Crest, Oral B, Dawn, Charmin and Bounty to activate with MLS fans.
The P&G commitment is significant for the MLS as it battles to overcome what commissioner Don Garber reckons will be $1 billion of lost income due to the covid pandemic.
The MLS has recently secured a pay deal with its players’ union going forward – crucial to getting the league started on time – but has pushed back the launch of three new franchises that would boost the number of MLS teams from 27 to 30.
One of those franchises, Sacramento, has lost investors and is looking unlikely to launch. That may open the doors for a Las Vegas franchise and the city is showing an increased appetite for soccer and is hosting Concacaf’s Gold Cup final in August.
One new franchise that will debut this weekend is Austin FC, in Texas, who open against the San Jose Earthquakes in their new-build soccer specific Q2 stadium.
It is the rapid spread of the MLS across the US and through a large cross-section of diverse consumer groups that has stimulated the P&G corporate deal. Next step for the MLS commercially will be to improve on its domestic broadcast deals to get closer to the money paid for the big European leagues imported into the US market.
Gary Stevenson, MLS Deputy Commissioner, and President and Managing Director of MLS Business Ventures, said: “The sport is on the rise like never before, and adding P&G as a key strategic partner with incredible marketing and consumer engagement expertise will undoubtedly help us accelerate our growth. There has never been a more promising time for soccer.”
The MLS is looking for a long term relationship with P&G that is expects to be able to grow as its league and soccer grows in the US. Certainly it is now ticking many of the boxes for the big corporate sponsors to get involved.
“We’re excited for our brands to participate in a sport so beloved by millions of families, while also investing in the future with an organization committed to utilizing sport as a vehicle for positive social change,” Proctor & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard said in a statement.
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