The latest season of Major League Soccer (MLS), which began in February, is off to a strong start, at least on the business side. Sponsorship revenue, season ticket sales and merchandise sales are all up. alliance.
Is it the Messi effect? Since joining the league last season, his impact on Inter Miami and MLS as a whole has been well-documented. Jen Kramer, MLS' vice president of partnership marketing, said Messi is just one of the few reasons the league as a whole is experiencing growth.
“I've been here a long time and I've never seen a partnership activation like this,” she told Marketing Brew. “A lot of that is because people are starting to realize the impact soccer has and how desirable the fan base is.”
Juggling sponsor: According to MLS, league partnership revenue will increase by 17% from 2022 to 2023, and each club's sponsorship revenue has increased by 15% so far this year compared to last year. LA Galaxy announced today that it is partnering with Vevo to have players curate programming for the music video network.
Kramer said MLS's list of partners also includes the usual suspects in sports sponsorship, such as car companies, beer companies and insurance companies.
- Audi, together with MLS and sports media platform Players Tribune, announced the return of Celebration Impact, a sponsored content series that supports players' off-field activities with donations to selected nonprofit organizations. This year, Audi will double its contribution from $20,000 per month to $40,000 per month.
- On the alcohol side, Diageo's Captain Morgan sponsors MLS in the US, while beer company Asahi sponsors Canada, where three MLS clubs are based.
- Other sponsors include Adidas, EA Sports, Celsius, AT&T, Allstate and BodyArmor.
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Off the bench: There are also MLS sponsors from unexpected industries. Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar will be his MLS sponsor in 2022, as will food delivery service DoorDash (he also sponsors NWSL team Angel City FC).
Soccer is a fairly “ordered environment” compared to other sports (pickleball), and Kramer said that's part of its appeal for the brand. She says the breakdown of MLS's audience is also appealing. Kramer said 71 percent of MLS fans are Gen Z or Millennials and 30 percent are Hispanic.
“Our audience is young, multicultural, and tech-savvy,” she said. “Marketers are very attracted to that.”
Zoom out: Outside of sponsorships, merchandise sold through the league's online store is up 44% year over year, and interest in season tickets is also increasing.
- As of February 13, about a week before the start of the MLS season, season ticket sales were up 15% compared to the same period last year.
- Revenue from season tickets increased 25%.
- In terms of season ticket sales, nearly all of the league's 29 teams (83%) were ahead of their 2023 pace. This will be the first season since 2016 that MLS did not add an expansion team.
“At the end of the day, what's really important to us is growing the sport of soccer in North America,” Kramer said.
Updated March 28, 2024: This article has been updated since publication to incorporate newly provided statistics on MLS fan demographics.
