Executives at Bell Canada and the Vancouver Whitecaps refuse to say how much the Canadian telecom will pay to be the founding sponsor of the Major League Soccer team, which will play its inaugural season in 2011.
“It will be more valuable for the Whitecaps and Bell than any deal that exists in the league today,” said Wade Oosterman, who is Bell’s Vancouver-born president of mobility and its chief brand officer.
Other MLS league deals include:
- the Seattle Sounders signing Microsoft to a five-year sponsorship deal in 2008 that was worth an estimated US$20 million;
- the L.A. Galaxy signing nutritional product company Herbalife to a five-year deal in 2007 worth an estimated US$20 million; and
- D.C. United in 2008 signing Volkswagen of America to a five-year deal worth US$14 million.
But the deals pale compared with one that English Premier League club Chelsea and South Korean electronics firm Samsung signed. It’s worth an estimated $20 million annually.
Bell’s brand features more prominently on the new Whitecaps uniform than does the team’s crest.
“The upside, the real intrinsic value is on the technology push,” Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallett told Business in Vancouver June 10.
“We’re not going to tell you. But you’d be happy if you knew the basics [of the sponsorship agreement]. We’re good business people.”
The only figure that Mallett would reveal was Bell’s commitment to contribute $100,000 to the Whitecaps’ foundation.
Unlike with professional baseball, hockey and football, corporate brands on soccer team jerseys are common globally.
The Whitecaps jerseys will never resemble those on the NASCAR circuit, Mallett said. Bell bought the exclusive right to put its brand on the uniforms.
Informal talks about Bell sponsoring the Whitecaps started 18 months ago.
Other companies that were in the running to be sponsors included Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:ERTS) and Telus Corp. (TSX:T).
Since the Olympics, however, Bell became the only company that was in contention.
“It got really serious at the Olympics,” Oosterman said. “That was the turning point. We were able to demonstrate what the technology can do for team coverage and sports coverage and fan addiction – all those good things.”
His BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) subsidiary will sell Bell Mobility subscribers various data plans that will enable fans to stream content for all games in what will likely be a 34-game season for the Whitecaps in 2011.
Fans will also have access to interviews with players and coaches and other behind-the-scenes content.