Major League Soccer and BODYARMOR have agreed to a four-year, multi-million dollar partnership which will designate the company as the league’s official sports drink partner in the United States starting in 2020.
You won’t need to keep your eyes peeled to see the byproduct of the partnership either. Starting next season, BODYARMOR’s logo will be featured on squirt bottles, coolers and towels on your favorite team’s sideline. The deal only sees the sports drink an MLS partner in the U.S.
Additionally, the league and BODYARMOR will join forces on custom content that brings together top MLS players with BODYARMOR athlete partners. BODYARMOR does not have a wide portfolio of soccer players yet, though it does have recent FIFA Player of the Year winner and FIFA World Cup Champion, Megan Rapinoe, as well as recent Houston Dynamo part-owner, James Harden.
BODYARMOR feels this is the perfect time and space for an investment into soccer. Michael Fedele, Vice President of Marketing says, “When we think about our long-term strategic planning while looking at youth soccer participation levels, we think soccer in the U.S. is a place our brand should be.”
BIG THINGS IN 2020 👀
Proud to announce that BODYARMOR will be the OFFICIAL Sports Drink of @MLS‼️ LET’S GO‼️ #SuperiorHydration pic.twitter.com/mfSNX8skVx
— BODYARMOR (@DrinkBODYARMOR) September 17, 2019
A perfect pairing
We tend to think so, as well. When looking at brands in this category, BODYARMOR presents an interesting fit, one that mirrors MLS itself. Currently, the sports drink, is expected to surpass $700 million in retail sales by the end of 2019. Just like MLS, BODYARMOR is a brand growing at a rapid rate.
From the outside looking in, this feels like a natural fit for MLS. We’ll be interested to see how this partnership grows not only BODYARMOR as a brand, but as a marketing entity. Will they sign MLS players to their portfolio? How will they support the game? What kind of content will they churn out? These are all questions on our mind. For now, though, this is a welcome addition to the league’s expanding list of partnerships.
Soccer interest at home and abroad
This partnership announcement came a day before Monster Energy made its foray into soccer with a host of Premier League clubs which is outside the norm for the brand’s sport partnerships. This drives home the growing investment into soccer from varying drink brands. We expect this trend to grow both within clubs and leagues across the world.
Categories: Major League Soccer, Sponsorship