Subway Restaurants has its two largest restaurant bases, the United States and Canada, well covered in sports sponsorships, supporting a stable of teams, colleges, events and athletes. Subway also ranked ninth last year among companies for ad spending during U.S. network and cable sports programming (with more than $167 million spent), according to data provided to SportsBusiness Journal by Kantar Media.
Next up: the world.
The sandwich chain, already the world’s largest in terms of locations, continues to expand abroad, and its global director of sports marketing and strategic partnerships, Paul Bamundo, and his team are using soccer as a means to further the company’s reach in key expansion markets. Among the brand’s partners in this global push: Pelé and Liverpool FC. Bamundo
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BAMUNDO
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recently spoke with SportsBusiness Journal’s Ian Thomas on how global soccer fits into Subway’s sports sponsorship vision.
■ How did Subway start to get an interest in soccer sponsorship on a global level?
BAMUNDO: When we did our first “famous fan” [spokesman] deal with Michael Phelps [in 2008], there was a sense that we wanted to do more deals that had a global reach. Soccer made perfect sense. Working with [public relations firm] Catalyst, we identified Pelé as someone we wanted to work with, for a number of reasons. When his new team [at MediaCom Sport] consolidated his rights in 2013, it quickly came together.
Our vision was to activate with him globally, and as that began to come out, we thought about what more we could do. EPL was on our radar, but due to our relationship with NBC [Subway in 2009 signed a multiplatform partnership with the network, and the network has had the EPL as part of its broadcast lineup since 2013], we took our time to survey the landscape, despite the fact that a number of clubs came directly to us with interest.
■ What made Liverpool the right choice?
BAMUNDO: We landed with Liverpool [in April 2014] for a number of reasons. We were very comfortable with working with [team owner] Fenway Sports Group overall. It was also great that Liverpool was on tour here in the U.S. last summer, so it was a good test run to be able to work with them directly in Boston. We’ve been very pleased with our relationship with them thus far, which led to our further expansion in December, which now provides us with pitch-side display ads that react to what’s going on in the game. We were also able to work out a “famous fan” relationship with [forward] Daniel Sturridge, who will play a big role not only for the club going forward but with the English national team as well.
■ Where do you see the benefit in partnering with a team like Liverpool compared to a U.S.-based team?
BAMUNDO: We have team deals in other sports, but here in the U.S., you’re restricted to the typical 90-mile or so radius. One of the appealing things about this Liverpool deal is that we can activate around the globe in any market, just due to the way team rights work in the EPL. For example, we were able to do a viewing party of a Liverpool match in Mumbai, a market that is very important for us in terms of growth. In talking with our regional manager in the Middle East, all the work we’ve been able to do around Liverpool has tracked in the same time period where they have had record sales.
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The sandwich maker has utilized soccer icon Pelé as one of its “famous fans” in its advertising in recent years.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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■ Where else are you able to leverage this relationship?
BAMUNDO: Asia is a really important market for us, and with Liverpool doing a tour in Asia this year, it’s a great opportunity for us, especially in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia.
■ What are the synergies between your global soccer touchpoints?
BAMUNDO: The big event on our timeline as it relates to these partners is the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. With our long-term partnership with NBC on the broadcast side, knowing that it’s in Pelé’s home country with soccer set to play a big role, and Sturridge as one of only two English players to score in the previous World Cup, we see this as a thing of beauty in regards to our ability to activate around it.
Brazil is also an important market for us, as it’s our fourth-most-populated country with stores, behind the U.S., Canada and the U.K. — not to mention the global reach of the Olympics overall. If you look at our track record in sports marketing and what we’ve done here, whether that’s expanding our position in MLS, taking a stake in global football with Liverpool, or what we’ve done on the ground with some local clubs in Brazil with Pelé, we’re really excited about what’s ahead.
