Ahead of the 2023 Major League Soccer season, clubs are kicking into high gear with anticipation as the season kickoff draws nearer. Formations are being drawn up, team fitness is rounding into form, and front office teams are finalizing their game plans for how to approach the league’s 28th season.
One of the most underrated, yet crucial factors of each club’s business presence is the kit partner.
As the sport has been revolutionized throughout the years with new standards for club ownership, stadium naming rights, and social media monetization, the kit partner has remained a staple of a team’s commercial revenue. Often representing much more than a simple cash grab for clubs, a kit partner is woven into the literal and metaphorical fabric of what the club represents within their community.
Let’s take a look at how kit sponsorship breaks down for each club from a sponsor category perspective, whether the partner is new or existing, and whether or not the partner is considered to be part of the club’s local community.
Based on the above, here are a few interesting points to note:
Let’s play categories
- “Health Care” and “Consumer Products” led the way in the category department with seven clubs apiece. These two categories comprised nearly half the league’s kit partners.
- Two categories, “Industrial” (Sporting Kansas City + Compass Materials) and “Retail” (Minnesota United + Target), each have the distinction of holding only one club within its designation.
Are you new here?
- Five clubs will claim new kit partners for the 2023 season. The Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Seattle Sounders, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC are going in a new direction from their previous kit partners. St. Louis City will be making their league debut rocking some unique Purina-endorsed kits.
Traveling far and wide
- For a kit sponsor to be considered local, the company’s headquarters must be located a short drive from the club’s city. For example, Horsham Township (Bimbo Bakery’s HQ) is 35 minutes away from Philadelphia, making it a local partner for these purposes. Meanwhile, Seattle (Alaska Airlines’ HQ) is a two hour, 30 minute drive from Portland, thus the Timbers’ sponsor is deemed to not be a local partner.
- Keeping this in mind, 18 club kit partners are local to their respective local communities. This is massive for a league that is truly looking to embed and grow further within the current and next generations of their fan base.
Down to the wire
- The Vancouver Whitecaps left it till extra time but they’ve finally found their new kit partner, signing a deal with local telecommunications company TELUS nine days before the 2023 MLS season kicks off.
- The global technology brand signed a five-year deal with the club as they will feature on kits within all levels of the Whitecaps’ system, including Vancouver’s teams within MLS Next Pro and the academy.
It’s in the family
- NYCFC took home the top spot last year with the most lucrative kit deal in the league, earning $9 million from Etihad Airways in 2022. The airline has been a longtime partner of the club as well as others within City Football Group including Manchester City and Melbourne FC. Etihad Airways is based in Abu Dhabi, which also owns a majority stake in City Football Group.
- The New York Red Bulls are outfitted by their ownership group Red Bull GmbH. The energy drink brand stretches far and wide across the globe outfitting notable European clubs RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg among others.
Money, money money
- While many clubs have kept specific dollar figures of their kit partner deals close to the chest, there are some partnerships where we know what the teams are making.
- Charlotte FC, $7 million per year, signed 2019
- FC Cincinnati, $5 million per year, signed 2017
- Inter Miami, $4-5 million per year, signed 2021
- CF Montréal, $4 million per year, signed 2018
- Toronto FC, $4 million per year, new deal also extended naming rights deal by additional 10 years
- Columbus Crew, $3 million per year, signed 2020
- New England Revolution, $3 million per year, signed 2011
- Philadelphia Union, $2.2 million per year, signed 2019
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