Mexico won the CONCACAF Gold Cup Saturday over the U.S., and the country’s national men’s soccer team has “attracted some top-level sponsors” that are eager to “gain association with a true Hispanic success story in the States,” according to Simon Evans of REUTERS. The team is generating attention “that would be the envy of most of the top American sports teams.” The team already has sponsorship from companies that are “normally more associated with traditional U.S. sports,” such as Coca-Cola and The Home Depot. A-B’s Bud Light brand has been pushing its "association with the Mexicans through various mediums,” including a “giant billboard promoting the beer’s sponsorship of the team” at L.A. Int’l Airport. Allstate has pushed its "link-up with ‘El Tri’ heavily on television” and has interacted “directly with fans through their ‘Futbol Fiesta’ initiative outside stadiums.” Texas-based Playbook Management Int’l Founding Partner Michael Hitchcock said the Mexican team is “now one of the top sports brands in the States and companies have stepped up and seen the value of that.” Evans noted some brands, like Allstate and Budweiser, sponsor both the U.S. and Mexican national teams, “indicating that brands may well choose to have a foot in both camps of North America’s biggest soccer rivalry.” SUM has been “marketing Mexico in the States” since ’03, and SUM VP/Global Sponsorship David Wright said, “To be able to align a brand with that passion point has been something that has been extremely valuable to some industry-leading brands” (REUTERS, 6/28).
