Soccer: There's money to be made...

When you take the action of the Super Bowl, combine it with a period of 64 matches, and multiply it by about 1.4 billion global viewers, it’s easy to understand the impact of the 2006 Soccer World Cup tournament.

Not only does it mean that the beautiful game is more glamorous than any other sporting event, but that the tournament creates exceptional brand exposure for all companies involved.

So, this week we take a look at some of the brands and companies who have gone the extra mile to get their names across the globe. In the world of business it takes money to make money…

The right to broadcast…

Univision, a Spanish broadcaster, holds the Spanish-language broadcaster rights in the U.S. The network paid 150 million dollars for the rights to the ’02 and ’06 World Cups and has sold almost 130 million dollars in advertising space for this tournament. Their revenue is expected to climb to an estimated 180 million dollars. The broadcasting rights to the 2010 and 2014 tournaments will cost Univision a small fortune of about 325 million dollars.

Sponsors of the Soccer World Cup…


FIFA has partnered with 15 companies as official sponsors for this year’s soccer event. From the likes of Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Yahoo, Continental and Mc’ Donald’s have all paid between 38 and 63 million dollars to get their names associated with the tournament. ADIDAS, who is the provider of the official World Cup soccer ball has spent an estimated 200 million dollars on marketing and expects to gain 1.5 billion in soccer sales during the 2006 Soccer World Cup Tournament.

Budweiser and the German locals…


Warren Buffet, the biggest shareholder of Budweiser, who is worth 42.9 billion and also the second richest man in the world, saw an opportunity in this year’s World Cup when they became one of the official sponsors. Becoming the only official beer at the tournament means that Germany, who is one of the largest beer drinking and producing nations in the world, will be helping Budweiser achieve exceptional sales and brand exposure. However, some of the locals had mixed emotions about this, and so a second beer had to be added to keep everyone happy.

Samsung Mobile limited edition…


Samsung, a Korean phone maker, took the initiative to launch a limited edition phone which is also the English team’s phone. The E 370 comes pre-loaded with the characteristic three lions wallpaper and video clips of David Beckham’s free kicks and other celebrated moments in England’s soccer history. Samsung wishes to gain effective brand exposure in the British market seeing that the 2006 Soccer World Cup has created the ideal platform to boost almost any brand. It is believed that global companies will spend more than 1 billion dollars promoting their brands throughout the event.