Today’s sports industry is swimming with wealth and opportunity. Top Indian athletes like Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni are heavily paid, with top sports clubs worth billions of dollars.
But have you wondered where all these heavy bags of dollars being sprayed in the sports industry come from?
Bookmaker sponsorships may come to your mind. Yes, top bookmakers like Dafabet –with thousands of Indian punters maximizing their mobile betting markets after a dafabet apk download –invest in football. But who else does?
In this article, we will learn about the major multinationals whose heavy dollar stacks power the global sports industry.
EA Sports
EA Sports is a sub-brand from the famous video game maker, Electronic Arts (EA), founded in 1992. This sub-brand from EA specializes in releasing many popular sports series, including NBA Live, FIFA, Madden NFL, NHL UFC, EA Sports Rally, F1, and EA Sports College Football.
EA Sports has been known to embark on sponsorship deals in sports, which demonstrates what they stand for – Sports. Some of the recent sponsorships include agreeing to the UEFA Women’s Champions League sponsorship in 2022 and standing in as a title sponsor for the 2023-24 La Liga season.
EA Sports is also one of the biggest sponsors of the English Premier League. Their sponsorship agreements date goes far back, even beyond 2014. They have been seen many times extending their agreement as the official sports partner of the English Premier League.
Hublot
Founded in 1980, the Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot stands as one of the most popular watchmakers in the world, with over €262 million in revenue. When it comes to sponsorships, Hublot has sponsored several events, especially sports events. Some of their notable football sponsors started in 2008 when the company signed sponsorship deals with clubs like Juventus, Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam, and FC Bayern Munich, among others.
Hublot has also sponsored the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship and has taken up deals at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup as the official timekeeper. They were also announced as the official timekeeper for the 2020-21 and 2022-23 English Premier League.
Adidas
Founded in 1924, Adidas stands as one of the best and most famous sportswear brands in the world. They are a public company headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. They have the whole world as their target market and churn out tons of sports apparel, footwear, sportswear, sports equipment, and toiletries per year. Adidas makes over €21.915 billion in revenue.
Being a sportswear brand, it’s no news that Adidas has tied itself around sports investment. Adidas has recorded many kit deals with individual football players and clubs both in the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. They also have a record of sponsoring national teams and a whole football league.
Aside from football, Adidas has sponsored items, activities, players, and teams in tennis, basketball, rugby, field hockey, ice hockey, and cricket. They still stand as one of the major sponsors in various forms of sports.
Coca-cola
Founded in 1886, Coca-cola takes the crown as the most-sold Cola amongst all existing competitors. With over 6 variants available, Coca-cola has made an incredible $38.7 billion in revenue whilst shipping worldwide. The soft drink company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Although not related to sports in any way, Coca-cola has made several successful advancements in investing in sports. Some of their oldest investments date back to 1928 when the company was seen sponsoring the Olympic Games. Coca-cola also went on to invest in more Olympics on several dates until they dashed into football in 1978 and sponsored many FIFA tournaments.
Coca-cola has also been seen testing out the waters across major forms of sports. The company has a record of sponsoring Motor racing matches, basketball games, Hockey leagues, and Cricket tournaments.
Nike
Known to be the biggest and most prosperous sportswear brand, Nike has long tied itself around sports investment. Founded in 1964, the public company, Nike is known to be immensely into the production of athletic shoes, apparel, sporting goods, and accessories. The company’s headquarters is planted in Beaverton, Oregon, U.S. target the worldwide market. Nikes generates over $46.71 billion in revenue.
Nike is known to be one of the biggest sponsors of basketball. In fact, the company made a whole sub-brand called Air Jordan in honor of Michael Jordan, just for basketball lovers. Being the biggest sportswear brand, they are spread abroad in almost all forms of sports. Nike holds records of investing in track and field sports, football, golf, and tennis, among others.
Just like other big brands, Nike is also invested in individual players, teams or clubs, leagues, and tournaments and is dedicated to supplying sports kits and accessories.
