Soccer advertising is different

by. Jake Cann

Soccer, in the United States, is blowing my mind.

Last August I went to see the Seattle Sounders play the Portland Timbers. It’s one of the biggest rivalry matches in Major League Soccer and it sold out Century Link Field—that’s 67,000+ seats.

67,000+ Americans paid to watch a soccer game. That’s a BIG DEAL.

Over the last year 21 U.S. TV networks (including ESPN, Fox, NBC and Univision) aired close to 4,000 soccer telecasts. That’s almost 1,500 more than in 2010, the year of the last World Cup.

With MLS rapidly expanding from 19 to potentially 24 teams by 2017, it’s safe to say that soccer and soccer fandom are growing in America. And they’re growing fast. So what does that mean for advertisers and their brands?

Thanks to Disney and Univision, all 64 World Cup Matches were broadcast live from Brazil. And with major sponsors (Kia, Hyundai, Adidas, Coca-Cola, VISA), every halftime was chock-full of big game quality spots. But with two continuous 45-minute halves in soccer, advertisers must use a different approach to get noticed. As a result, every element of the game has become branded, even the ball.

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