The newly reformed FIFA Club World Cup kicks-off in two weeks, but how do commercial sponsors and broadcast partners tackle marketing, sponsorship and coverage of a newly-introduced football competition?
When FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced a sweeping reform to the FIFA Club World Cup in 2023, it didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but it certainly turned heads. After years of speculation about expanding the tournament, FIFA made it official: The Club World Cup would grow to 32 teams and shift to a four year cycle, mirroring the format of the International World Cup.
Now, with the first edition of this expanded competition set to kick off in the US in just two weeks, clubs from across the globe are preparing to take part in what FIFA hopes wikll become a true global club championship.
Infantino described the Club World Cup as a “new benchmark for football” and a competition which will be in place for decades to come. But how have FIFA partners, sponsors and broadcasters had to navigate the introduction of another football competition set to start so soon after all European domestic leagues have finished for the season?
The lingering question for all Club World Cup partners, sponsors and broadcasters before becoming involved with the competition will have been “does this bring value and return on investment?”
With the likes of Real Madrid, FC Bayern Munich, Manchester City and recently crowned Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain no doubt driving attention from Europe with their participation, the inaugural edition of the Club World Cup will serve as a testing ground for partners if there is tangible success for a return to the competition in four years time.
Insider Sport explores how sponsors and broadcasters have strategised their marketing campaigns around the Club World Cup and if the fanfare for the competition is concrete, or a FIFA devised initiative to drive more financial growth.
Sponsorship
This may be hard to believe, but FIFA was not garnering much sponsorship support for the Club World Cup since its revamped format was announced in 2023. In October 2024, The Guardian reported only two companies – Bank of America and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – had been approached for sponsorship.
Meanwhile, long-term FIFA partners Adidas and Coca-Cola were in a dispute with the governing football organisation over sponsorship rights within their contracts they believed should have included the Club World Cup.
Despite Adidas and Coca-Cola now officially sponsors of the competition after resolving the dispute, as well as other partners like Bank of America, PIF, Budweiser, Aramco and more, the initial muted interest from companies signalled trepidation over how successful the competition will be.
But now, two weeks out from the opening game on June 14 between Al Ahly and Inter Miami, FIFA and its partners are drumming up interest in the competition through various marketing and fan engagement activations.
Marketing
In a bid to replicate the magnitude of the World Cup or the UEFA Champions League, brands like Budweiser are replicating past successes of sponsoring the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Women’s World Cup.
As the official global beer sponsor of the Club World Cup, Budweiser will continue to promote its ‘Bring Home The Bud’ campaign which rewards fans of the winning club with free branded Budweiser beer for fans of legal drinking age.
Budweiser may have optimism over the success of the competition if they are replicating past marketing campaign successes at two major competitions to the Club World Cup. The campaign seeks to engage global football fans as Budweiser has already placed branded red crates in competing countries like Brazil and China.
“Budweiser has been celebrating football culture and its legions of fans for nearly 40 years, and we’re proud to launch this global platform to match the energy, scale and excitement of this unique competition,” said Richard Oppy, Global President of AB InBev, parent company of Budweiser.
While Budweiser’s marketing campaign focuses on engaging the fanfare of football fans, the Saudi PIF is aiming to use its partnership with the Club World Cup to gauge sponsorship and marketing opportunities of its own for when Saudi Arabia hosts the 2034 World Cup.
With a focus on youth, the partnership will provide opportunities for young people, supporting FIFA in its efforts to engage them at grassroots levels and create new visibility for global audiences.
“The partners of the first-ever 32-team FIFA Club World Cup believe in our vision to make football truly global. Their support of the tournament will not only be integral to its success but will underpin investment in supporting the development of club football everywhere.” said Romy Gai, Chief Business Officer at FIFA.
Similar to both initiatives from PIF and Budweiser, Visa is aiming to “amplify the fan experience” by rolling out in-stadium fan engagement programs, whilst Qatar Airways was only recently brought onboard as a sponsor to deliver exclusive flight packages for fans travelling to the US for the competition.
Seeking global audiences
Similar to its early sponsorship struggles, FIFA shopped the exclusive global broadcast rights for the Club World Cup without much interest from major networks.
DAZN was officially announced as the global broadcaster in December 2024 and will cover all 63 games of the competition. 5 will also be the free-to-air provider in the UK for the Club World Cup, which features English teams Manchester City and Chelsea FC.
Negotiations between FIFA and Apple TV reportedly broke down over a potential broadcast deal, while UK channels BBC and ITV walked away from the free-to-air deal, with the BBC citing sublicensing issues with DAZN.
FIFA eyeing streaming platforms like DAZN and Apple TV for the competition indicates the organisation’s ambition for the competition to be watched globally and draw on the football fanfare of a majority of countries.
For DAZN, this also represents a new opportunity to bring in new subscribers and viewers from across the world, as well as demonstrate new digital enhancements to its coverage.
Pete Oliver, DAZN’s Chief Executive Officer of Growth Markets, exclusively spoke to Insider Sport on the platform’s preparations for its coverage of the Club World Cup, believing that the competition will “undoubtedly” bring new eyes from new markets to DAZN.
Oliver said: “The tournament will introduce DAZN to new markets where we’re either entering or expanding. In that sense, it’s both a broadcast product and an opportunity to help us grow our global business and become recognised as the Global Home of Football.”
Insider Sport’s exclusive interview with DAZN will be released on June 13 before the Club World Cup kicks-off
Are football fans interested?
As sponsors are prioritising marketing and fan engagement activities, how well has the reformed competition been received by fans, the symbolic heart of any football competition.
Upon the announcement of the new 32-team format, it was unsurprisingly met with skepticism from fans across Europe in particular. Questions arose around the relevancy of hosting another major competition only a month after they have endured a 10, and players too grew concerned due to additional games being added to an increasingly loaded football schedule.
While FIFA attempted to add further incentives for clubs to compete by granting more than $100m to the winners of the Club World Cup, have fans’ support for the competition grown with only two weeks remaining?
According to The Athletic, ticket prices for the opening game have been significantly reduced to as low as $55, from a height of $349 in December 2024 on Ticketmaster.
The opening game will be contested at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, but as reports suggest, the game looks on the verge of not selling out and as The Athletic discovered, “FIFA has been concerned in recent weeks that the opening game of the tournament has not been selling as well as they had expected”.
A combination of factors may have contributed to this. Soccer in the US, whilst growing in recent years, is still a young and emerging sport in the country, paling in comparison to the popularity of the NFL and NBA.
The hosting of the Club World Cup in the US also means that fervent football fans in Europe, South America and more, will have to spend thousands, potentially tens of thousands of their money to watch their team compete.
Football fans may have no hesitation when it comes to paying extra to fly abroad to watch games at an established competition like the World Cup, the Club World Cup in its newest format does not command the same prestige to garner similar fanfare.
If the Club World Cup proves to be a success and captures the attention of football fans worldwide, this could prove to be the foundational building blocks of a reputable and prestigious competition for sponsors, broadcasters and fans alike.
However, if FIFA were to fail in its bid to create a new club cup competition, it would only justify cynics’ belief the Club World Cup was rebranded as a financial advantage from the world governing body.
