MEXICO CITY (Process).- On November 30, the failure of the Mexican National Team in the Qatar 2022 World Cup was consummated; the team did not make it past the group stage for the first time since Argentina 1978. However, the negative numbers do not transcend the business that the national team represents as a brand, and their coffers will continue to fill up.
“The Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) and Televisa and TV Azteca have been in charge of creating a product that reaches the entire country: the Mexican National Team. On a national scale, it has no competition with any other sport, so the federation and the television stations place a high price on those brands that want to be part of the team,” explains Javier Balseca, a specialist in sports marketing, who has experience of 18 years in the business and, in addition, he is a representative of teams from the Liga MX and the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol in the commercial area.
Balseca compares the sporting present in Mexico with that of the United States: “As a product, no matter how many times it loses, the team will continue to sell because at a sporting level there is nothing that compares to it. Instead, let’s look at what happens in the United States: they have five top leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and now MLS). Not only that, but they are so well structured that even their calendars don’t overlap and allow the fans to enjoy everything”.
The World Cup represents the moment of greatest exposure for brands and managers in Mexico know that, explains the specialist. “The federation sells packages to the brands, the cost of these will depend on whether you want to be part of the main names associated with the selection and how long before the World Cup.
“The federation itself tells the brands that they can enter this World Cup cycle with a view to the next event, remembering that in 2026 Mexico will share the headquarters with the United States and Canada; It will be a very strong World Cup for those brands because it will be an American tournament, to call it somehow”, he considers.
He also points out that, precisely for this reason, there was a considerable increase in brands linked to the Mexican National Team in Qatar 2022 compared to Russia 2018 and, he assures, more will arrive by 2026.
of the best sellers
According to the Havas Media Group agency, in the World Cup in Russia there were 12 brands that sponsored Mexico, while in the current World Cup there were a total of 20: Adidas, Banorte, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Kavak, Bitso, Xiaomi, Sabritas, Gamesa, BeGo, Lala, Corona, Visa, G500, Betcris, Izzi, LG, Draftea, ADO and Hyperice; the first six are classified as A sponsors or Masters.
Until last September, Mexico ranked fourth among the teams with the most shirts sold for Qatar 2022, with a total of 1.6 million. The tricolor shirt was only surpassed by Spain, Argentina and France.
The Mexico shirt is sold for 1,800 pesos and 2,600 pesos, as the brand that sponsors El Tri sells two versions: for fans and the professional one. In this way, until last September more than 2 thousand 800 million pesos would have been generated.
Although there are no official figures for each of the agreements, the agency calculates that the Mexican National Team receives between 100 and 150 million dollars a year from that first group. Adidas is projected to pay the Tri $80 million a year. While the average income for the other star sponsors would be between 15 and 30 million dollars.
The brands that are not considered type A enter the selection an approximate average of five and 15 million dollars to complement 50%. The rest, Havas Media Group mentions, is distributed between transmission rights, 30%, and what it obtains from ticket sales, 20%.
Last May, the FMF renewed a six-year contract with Soccer United Marketing to promote Mexico’s matches in the United States, a contract that includes the women’s national team and will include the World Cup by 2026. According to the newspaper El Economista , the men’s Mexican National Team generates 9 million dollars per game in the United States and the previous contract stipulated that the FMF should receive 2 million of the nine generated.
In addition, to these numbers we must add that each team guaranteed an income of 9 million dollars just for having participated in the group stage during the Qatar 2022 World Cup and, from there, the tables rise according to the achievements of each national team. Thus, the FMF entered 9 million dollars, although the goal was to enter at least 13 million when it reached the round of 16.
Balseca explains that regardless of the place Mexico reaches in the World Cup, the FMF will not lose, because before the results they had already sold a package to the brands and these, despite the elimination of those directed by Tata Martino, do not resent either , because they knew that they were taking a risk since every four years the story of El Tri is practically the same: staying in the round of 16.
The specialist makes it clear that he would not recommend a brand to be associated with the Mexican National Team. He mentions that in the end the decision will depend a lot on the objectives of the associated sponsorship (brand recall, if it has a better position with respect to its direct competition and the return on investment). The reason why he mentions this is that, although he is clear that the World Cup is a great showcase to show a brand, it is not seen directly on the field, since of the 17 official sponsors of Qatar 2022, seven are partners FIFA officials and are the ones who end up appearing on the pitch.
He assures that if people were asked who the Tri sponsors are, they could mention a maximum of five, which means that all the money paid to associate with the product of the national team is not represented.
“Mexico at the World Cup paints a fine line between quality and exposure for sponsors. Of course you will have more reach, you are paying to expose yourself, but it will also depend on how much you have given to appear.
“I would love to know what the return value of the main brands in the selection is. Those who pay to be sponsors of Mexico are only present in the training uniforms and in the television summaries. It is not profitable, but it gives a status.”
those who lose
Balseca also establishes that in any case, the main ones affected by the elimination of Mexico in the group stage were the television stations. “A 20-second spot on open television during the Mexico vs. Saudi Arabia game cost 1.5 million pesos. If Mexico had gone to the round of 16, it would have increased to 2.5 million pesos per spot.
“Although the advantage of the television stations is that they made packages because they sold the space of the matches that Mexico played in the group stage and they calculated an extra amount that the companies could invest in case they reached the round of 16 or if they continued advancing, in such a way that there was a bonus or extra income”.
In addition, he adds that Mexico having been eliminated at such an early stage, television stations are forced to squeeze and wear out issues such as “If Mexico were still in the World Cup, they would play against…” or “Who will be the new technical director national?”. But he reiterates that in the end the brands will receive the rating obtained by the television station with which they partnered, they will review how many Mexicans watched the World Cup and they will seek to project themselves for 2026.
In this sense, according to John Sutcliffe, an ESPN journalist, the loss represents, for one television station alone, the absence of income of just over 10 million dollars, which would correspond to extra products that they could offer if the box, then directed by Gerardo Martino, would have entered the round of 16.
Arturo Vega Martín, president of the National Chamber of Commerce in Small Services and Tourism (Canacope), explained that during the Qatar 2022 World Cup an economic spillover of 3.2 billion pesos was expected in Mexico City, although before The World Cup warned in El Economista: “In past World Cups we have detected that when they were eliminated the public lost interest and the level of average spending decreased.”