Are you ready to watch the world’s largest sporting event?
Soccer (sorry international readers -- we're based in the U.S.!), is the most widely followed game in the world with more than 3.3 billion fans. American football comes in ninth with around 400 million fans.
The World Cup, hosted by South Africa, kicked off this morning and will continue for another month. Most of the world will be watching the tournament, cheering for their teams and exposing themselves to a myriad of advertisements.
Just like Argentina’s Lionel Messi, England’s Wayne Rooney, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, World Cup sponsors will try their best to impress the 3.3 billion fans and win their loyalty and admiration.
The World Cup sponsors are a who's who of global powerhouses. An opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of billions of consumers only comes around once every four years, and here are the 9 companies trying hardest to impress them:
Starting Line-Up
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) -- Coke is a major sponsor and an important partner of the World Cup. Coke is looking for a repeat of its performance during the German World Cup in 2006 when it saw volume grow by +15% vs. the prior quarter.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) -- World Cup fans have been known to enjoy a frosty mug of beer from time to time. Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world's largest brewer, with 25% of global market share. But close behind is South African company SABMiller, the second-largest brewer in the world. Anheuser Busch Inbev is going to take this opportunity to make a big statement deep in SABMiller territory.
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) -- McDonald's dominates its competition in most of the world, but that doesn't mean there's not still room to expand. McDonald's is especially interested in staking out new positions in emerging areas within Africa. As standards of living improve, more money can be spent on the 'luxury' of fast food.
Visa (NYSE: V) -- Like the Olympics, only Visa cards are accepted at the World Cup. The World Cup alone probably won't produce much new revenue for Visa, but the continued worldwide expansion of credit cards and debit cards will. Since Visa gets a cut of each transaction, more cards in the hands of more people means Visa makes more money.
Hyundai -- Hyundai, the South Korean auto company, is continuing to expand into emerging markets by positioning itself as an alternative to U.S. and European automotive companies. As of now, the company does not have a significant presence in Africa or Latin America, so the World Cup could be its coming out party in those parts of the world.
Second String
Nike (NYSE: NKE) -- Nike isn't an official sponsor of the World Cup, though it sponsors many teams. For maximum benefit, Nike needs one or more of its teams to advance far into the tournament or, even better, win it all. It's not hard to see the strategy in its sponsorship of perennial powerhouse and this year's favorite, Brazil.
An interesting controversy seems to be brewing at this year's World Cup. While Nike provides uniforms and cleats for many teams, Adidas was chosen to provide the ball. Some players are claiming the Adidas ball curves in unusual ways, and though Adidas and FIFA deny that there is anything wrong with it, a ball-based controversy or bad call could spell trouble for Nike's arch rival.
PUMA (Frankfurt: PUM.F) -- PUMA sponsors seven of this year's World Cup qualifying teams including Italy (the reigning World Cup Champions), Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Switzerland and Uruguay.
PUMA is not focusing solely on South Africa -- it's also targeting soccer fans in New York City with its 'PUMA City' concept. By promoting a month-long 'Soccer by Day and Parties by Night' event, PUMA hopes to cut into some of the U.S. market share currently held by Nike and Adidas.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) -- Disney, owner of ESPN, expects to see a big jump in viewers during the World Cup. ESPN is one of the growth engines for Disney, and ESPN’s expansion into new markets is expected to create new opportunities for the company.
One of ESPN's major competitors during the World Cup will be the privately-held Univision. During the 2006 World Cup, an average of 2.3 million people watched Spanish-language broadcasts on Univision networks, according to Nielsen. Univision made especially impressive inroads in the coveted 18-49 age group, beating ESPN by 14% and ESPN2 by 119% in that category.
