By Antje Kullrich, Dusseldorf
What can the marketing departments of the insurance industry come up with to spice up the somewhat staid reputation of their industry and at the same time reach an audience of millions? Sports sponsorship is a popular means. The information service provider Global Data has compiled what the insurance industry spends on it worldwide: This year the expenditure exceeds the sum of 1 billion dollars. Most of the money goes – no wonder – into football.
By far the largest sports sponsor in the industry is Allianz. According to Global Data, it comes to 123 million dollars and thus a share of more than 10% of the worldwide marketing expenditures of insurers in the field of sports. The group has acquired the naming rights to several football temples around the world – the best known are Turin and Munich.
Allianz seeks proximity to FC Bayern
Germany’s largest insurer and the number one in German football, FC Bayern Munich, have been closely linked for a long time. The two German top dogs have been cooperating since 2000, and since 2005 the stadium has borne the name of the insurer, which has held a good 8% stake in the club since 2014. This spring, an extension of the partnership for a further ten years was agreed. The deal, which according to media reports brings Bayern 13 million euros a year, is by no means the most lucrative. According to Global Data, the British club Tottenham Hotspur holds first place here. Jersey sponsorship costs the Asian AIA group around 50 million dollars a year.
However, the industry is extremely prominently represented in the Bundesliga. Even with Bayern’s most stubborn pursuer, an insurer sponsors in a leading position. The BVB stadium has been called Signal Iduna Park since 2005. Ergo, on the other hand, sponsors the national teams and the DFB Cup and expanded the partnership with the German Football Association at the beginning of 2022. In the case of the smaller Hanse-Merkur, it was only enough for the second division, but there at least for a traditional club: the insurer has been the jersey sponsor of HSV since 2022.
Baseball attracts US insurers
The second most popular sport among insurance marketers is baseball. The major US insurers are involved in sponsoring the two North American professional leagues in particular. Global Data analysts attribute this to the fact that the sport tends to attract an older audience that is more interested in insurance than younger basketball fans, for example. The New York Yankees and Starr Insurance closed the biggest deal, worth around $30 million a year. The most generous US insurer, however, is the auto insurer Geico, which belongs to Berkshire Hathaway, with a total of around 80 million dollars.
Insurers are pumping billions into sports sponsorship worldwide. The Alliance tops the list.
2023-08-17 16:08:06
#Football #costly #passion #German #insurers
