Hyundai North America has been wrestling with the "added cost" of its NFL league deal signed in '15, as the automaker has to "spend tens of millions of dollars annually on top of its sponsorship agreement" to keep up with the likes of Ford Motor Co., according to sources cited by David Undercoffler of AUTOMOTIVE NEWS. Hyundai signed a four-year deal to become the NFL's official auto sponsor. Sources said that the deal, which focuses on the Genesis luxury model and Hyundai's other brands, is "valued" at between $100-140M. But Hyundai gets "little direct advertising exposure during NFL games" on Fox, CBS and NBC. Instead, the brand's opportunity is "largely limited to promotional consideration on NFL-owned properties." Hyundai and its dealers are "allowed to use the NFL logo in their promotions and the logos of all 32 NFL teams as long as they're shown as a set." After "pushing for the more expansive and costly NFL deal," the South Korean parent firm has been "slow to increase Hyundai Motor America's marketing budget to allow it to keep up with other sponsorship opportunities." Before the deal was made official, the parent company actually called "off the deal," as South Korean execs in the buildup to the deal had "yet to tell Hyundai Motor America that they planned to spin off Genesis as a separate luxury brand." When Hyundai Motor Vice Chair Chung Eui-sun was "told at the last minute" about an estimated deal price tag of $60-90M that "didn't include Genesis ... he backpedaled" (AUTONEWS.com, 7/9).
