Food & beverage company Mondelez Int'l today will announce an "expansive sponsorship deal" with the U.S. men's and women's national soccer teams, Liga MX club Chivas de Guadalajara, Sounders F Clint Dempsey, Galaxy D Omar Gonzalez and NWSL Portland Thorns F Alex Morgan, according to Andrew Adam Newman of the N.Y. TIMES. The deals with the national teams, Chivas USA and Morgan are for three years, and the deals with Dempsey and Gonzalez are for one. The agreements call for Mondelez to be an "exclusive sponsor in all four of its snack categories, meaning its brands will be their official cookie, cracker, candy and gum." The company said that the "timing for the deal is right," as the men’s national team has already qualified for the '14 FIFA World Cup, the women’s national team is competing to qualify for the '15 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, and both teams are headed to the '16 Summer Olympics in Rio. Mondelez brands include Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz, Wheat Thins, Trident, Stride, Sour Patch Kids and Cadbury. The company "pitches its products primarily to mothers, including the well-chronicled soccer moms." Mondelez Senior Dir of Consumer Engagement & Marketing Services for North America Stephen Chriss said that having the exclusive right to the U.S. Soccer Federation logo on packaging, "along with images and cutouts of the three players, will help the brands secure coveted off-shelf displays in supermarkets and in big-box retailers like Walmart and Target." Mondelez indicated that how much the players and teams "will be featured in traditional advertising has yet to be determined." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed (N.Y. TIMES, 10/9).
AGASSI'S ATTEMPT AT SNACK FOOD: In Las Vegas, Laura Carroll reported Tennis HOFer Andre Agassi's Box Buddies lunchtime snacks are "sold in more than 1,000 grocery stores" in the U.S. and are "slated for about 2,000 as the product rollout continues." The snacks have "been on grocery store shelves for a while with no marketing behind them to ease them into the marketplace and build a solid distribution chain." The snacks are a "result of a partnership between the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education and V20 Foods." They are "distributed by Phoenix-based Hall of Fame Holdings, a company that partners superstar athletes with products" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 10/8).
