October 7 – For nearly 20 years the fortunes of US Soccer from a commercial and marketing standpoint were tied with SUM (Soccer United Marketing), the MLS-owned agency. That deal officially ended on December 31, 2021, when the US Soccer Federation (USSF) moved their operations in-house, although they did not take full responsibility until the start of 2023.
The financial details from the last year of the SUM deal saw the (USSF) bring in commercial revenue of $32 million. Compare this to the current financial year ending March 31, 2024, where the projection is to bring in $110 million, a staggering 243% increase over the last two years.
The bulk of this revenue comes from existing sponsors including Visa, Nike, Marriott Bonvoy, and Coca-Cola.
Overall, revenue for the federation is expected to hit $200 million with the key takeaway being that sponsor contributions have now become the main revenue stream, taking over from the US national teams’ match revenues.
“We are now at a moment in time for our sport unlike any other we’ve had before,” U.S. Soccer chief commercial officer David Wright told The Athletic. “We just hosted Copa America, we’ve got the Club World Cup in 2025, we’ve got the men’s World Cup in 2026 – which will go down as the largest sporting event ever – and that’s followed by the LA Olympics, where both men’s and women’s soccer will be very prominent. And we’ve been public about saying we’d love to host another women’s World Cup in 2031.” The US pulled out of their bid for 2027.
With these established sponsors in place and more potential partners in the pipeline, US Soccer has been able to splash the cash on two marquee signings in the coaching department and make concrete plans to move Federation headquarters from Chicago to a purpose-built facility on the outskirts of Atlanta.
In April ground was broken on the $250 million National Training Center (NTC), and Headquarters, officially naming the facility…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/10/07/us-soccer-revenue-tops-200m-commercial-revenue-grows-rapidly-110m/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-10-07 06:00:20
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