Title Sponsorships, like LALIGA EA Sports, Inevitable for Top Tier Domestic Leagues

Title Sponsorships, like LALIGA EA Sports, Inevitable for Top Tier Domestic Leagues

LALIGA named EA Sports FC the title sponsor of four annual competitions prior to the start of the 2023-2024 season (see: LALIGA EA SPORTS, LALIGA HYPERMOTION, LALIGA FC PRO, and LALIGA FC FUTURES). 

Electronic Arts signed a five-year $150mm deal to secure the Spanish football league’s naming rights.

“They add value to us [beyond the top line too],” Jorge de la Vega (chief business officer, LALIGA) said. 

The publicly traded video game publisher has been able to help the league to deepen engagement with fans and elevate their experience with the property. 

“EA SPORTS is not just a sponsor; they are an integral part of how we connect with a new generation of football enthusiasts globally,” de la Vega said.

But despite the tie-up’s apparent success, and the relative proclivity for league title sponsorships in Europe over the last ~30 years, no top-tier North American league has followed suit. 

“‘Clean’ brand equity has historically taken priority over selling naming rights,” Adam Grossman (founder, Revenue Over and Above Replacement) said. 

That seems likely to change though soon. 

“As conferences and leagues generally feel increased pressure for revenue generation, they are looking to all available, and previously unavailable, assets to satiate the thirst [that exists amongst] sponsor partners,” former Learfield CRO John Brody said.

The Big 12 and American Conferences are both reportedly exploring the possibility.

League title sponsorships are valued, in part, because they eliminate downside performance risk, provide ubiquity across many/all of the property’s competitions, and often include access to events that tend to be more limited in team deals (think: championship games, all-star game, draft).

Of course, they can also generate tremendous amounts of exposure for a brand partner. That was valuable to EA.

“We have an aspiration to reach one billion fans across the FC platform,” James Salmon (senior marketing director, EA Sports FC) said. “In order [for us] to get there, we [must] invest. We’re not going to [achieve that kind of growth] solely through traditional video game [marketing] means.”

Europe’s top sports properties have long sold league naming rights packages. The English Premier League has had a trio of title partners in its 30+ year history and LALIGA has had one since 2008 too.

But the Spanish league’s deal with EA Sports is said to be different from its prior collaborations.

“It's not just adding a last name to [the league] name,” de la Vega said. The company sought to establish “a true partnership [and be sure] that the brand [it aligned with] made sense with [its] objectives.”

LALIGA was going through a brand revamp when its previous deal with Banco Santander was expiring in 2022-2023. Leadership felt it could accelerate efforts to alter fan perceptions if it found a partner with ‘shared DNA’.

We were looking to convey “to the world that this is a [league] for a young audience to engage with,” Nicholas Garcia (VP of strategy, LALIGA North America) said. “We want [the next generation of soccer fans to be a] part of our community.”

EA Sports was in a similar boat at the time. The company was in the process of rebranding its main soccer game (formerly FIFA) and sought an effective platform to convey a trio of core tenets to fans (think: authenticity, innovation, and purpose).

Authenticity refers to the 19,000+ player names, images, and likenesses and 700+ team/league badges in the video game. 

The naming convention for LALIGA’s second division – LALIGA EA Sports HyperMotion– speaks EA’s desire to be viewed as innovative. HyperMotion tech ingests real-world match footage and makes it so the exact player movements can be replicated inside the game.

And like LALIGA, EA wants to spur football fandom and inspire a new generation to love the global game (that’s its ‘purpose’). The company’s goal is to encourage one million kids to start playing IRL.

EA’s role in developing fandom –and future stars– has become more prominent in recent years. Kids used to actively play sports and then become passive fans of the pro league (and the associated licensed video game). Now, with digital devices in the hands of young children, a growing number are finding interactivity as their gateway to fandom. 

“A lot of the time, the fans’ first point of entry to the sport is through our game,” Salmon said.

That is particularly true in the U.S. 

And over time, many of those individuals will begin passively viewing the professional product and/or actively participating in the sport.

“The majority of [FC fans], two thirds, are playing more sport in the real world than those not engaged in our video game,” Salmon said.

The LALIGA EA Sports grassroots program (FC Futures) caters to that demo. The entity has invested in building pitches, providing coaching, and awarding player scholarships.

LALIGA’s first division men’s league is formally referred to as LALIGA EA Sports. The name reflects the level of integration between the two sides. 

This is “not like a [typical] sponsorship. It’s [much] more like a partnership,” de la Vega said.

One in which the physical activation plan evolves annually based on their collective goals, needs, and measured success (or lack thereof). 

“It’s a different way of working [with a brand partner],” de la Vega said.

At least it was for the Spanish league.

It’s not clear why none of the top U.S. leagues have done a naming rights deal to date. 

“At least in my time [here], it's not anything we've ever been proactively approached around,” Salmon said.

But that is expected to change in short order. College conferences across the landscape are looking for ways to help member institutions remain competitive with revenue-sharing imminent.

And PE’s entrance into big four sport suggests the top U.S. leagues will consider it sooner than later too. 

Some rights owners will be inclined to take the biggest check. However, properties should be prioritizing brand alignment and integration; at least, if the goal is to keep the partner investing with the league beyond the deal’s initial terms and to drive fan engagement. 

“As enhanced data analytics and refined studies of ROI take on a deeper and more pronounced place for brand leaders and agencies, the conferences and leagues must demonstrate a true connection and return beyond the simple recall with the brand and the ratings point,” Brody said.

de la Vega noted that rights owners in a symbiotic relationship can help brands “with different levels of [the] marketing funnel.”

It’s not clear how much the LALIGA partnership has done to bring EA closer to its one billion fan goal. 

The popular league undoubtedly brings value. But with 30+ league or federation licensees in the game, attribution is challenging.

The company is said to still have a way to go to reach its goal.

As for LALIGA, it views the partnership as a major success. And not just in terms of financial impact.

“The integration of EA Sports into our ecosystem has allowed us to reach younger audiences in a way that was previously impossible. EA SPORTS FC is more than a video game; it’s a gateway for millions of fans to connect with LALIGA,” de la Vega said.

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