Sponsorship and football go hand-in-hand these days, with hoardings, shirts, shirt sleeves, and even some stadiums being sponsored by major brands, from sports clothing brands to online poker and casino gaming providers. It’s a very lucrative part of the football business for clubs, and some players manage to land sponsorship deals of their own.
World-famous players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard, and Paul Pogba get millions in sponsorships, but in countries where those players don’t perform, there’s still a great amount of potential in sponsoring the domestic leagues and players. Football is the most popular sport in the world, so the reach, even domestically, is huge in most nations.
On the largest football stage, the FIFA World Cup, Iran put in a very good showing. Being drawn in Group B, Iran was up against Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. Expected to finish bottom of the group without a single point, Carlos Queiroz’s squad, which featured nine players from the Persian Gulf Pro League, made it very interesting. With a win against Morocco and only a 1-0 loss to Spain, one more goal from either Morocco against Spain or from Iran in the eventual 1-1 draw against Portugal would have led to them going to the knockout stage instead of Ronaldo and Co.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup raised the profile of Iranian footballers both in their native country and abroad, which opens up the chance to promote the players and the sport through sponsorship deals.
Sponsorship in the Persian Gulf Pro League
As is the case in almost all major football leagues around the world, the clubs of the Persian Gulf Pro League have donned many big-name sponsorships through the years. Some of these sponsorships through the years include Hamrah Aval on Esteghlal and Persepolis, NIOC in a deal with Naft Tehran, ISACO on the Paykan kit, Hamrah-e Aval with Tractor Sazi, and the Isfahan Steel Company for Zob Ahan.
Most of the brands involved in sponsorship deals in the Persian Gulf Pro League are domestic companies. Despite the likes of Persepolis and Esteghlal competing in the AFC Champions League, the reach of Iran’s top division, and the majority of the players in the league, doesn’t go too far beyond the country’s borders, although players such as Hatem Ben Arfa and Gary Hooper have been linked with moves to the league.
Iran does, however, boast some top-class players plying their trade overseas, with the likes of Sardar ‘Iranian Messi’ Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, and Saman Ghoddos playing in elite-level leagues in Europe. In the Persian League, exciting star players like Shahriar Moghanlou, who has come up from the Azedegan League and is firing on all cylinders in the top league, could be very marketable.
A video of highlights showcasing one of Iran’s brightest football talents, Sardar ‘Iranian Messi’ Azmoun.
If employed for the right sponsorship and advertising campaigns, like football-specific products or fellow competitive game brands in video games or poker, a top scorer like Moghanlou could help to raise the profile of the sport and the league in Iran and the region.
Football players as ambassadors
Football players are heroes to their fans, winning the important games, and acting as role models to anyone who wants to aspire to play at the highest level themselves. With the right partnership, football players can make great ambassadors for big-name brands while simultaneously raising their public profile and becoming more visible. It’s commonplace for international and local football players to partner up with brands for advertising campaigns that benefit both parties, but the trick is for the brand to be relevant to the player or sport.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Tag Heuer with his big-money transfers relaying the luxury of the watch brand. Lionel Messi endorses the sports energy drink Gatorade alongside other sports stars like Usain Bolt and Jabari Parker. Then there’s also the former world-record transfer Denilson - who switched from Sao Paulo to Real Betis for £21.5 million back in 1998 - is the ambassador for 888poker. The Brazilian played football with energy, skill, and enthusiasm, which all relates to the game of poker as well as the high-stakes nature of big games. Skill, intelligence, and dedication are all key to being successful at poker, regardless of if it’s seven-card poker or Texas hold’em poker.
With Sardar Azmoun playing for Zenit St Petersburg in the Russian Premier Liga, Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the Premier League squad for Brighton & Hove Albion, and Saman Ghoddos with SC Amiens, there are plenty of high-profile players to promote alongside a big brand in Iran. All the brands, football clubs, and player agents need to work out is the best approach to doing said advertising campaigns whether that be traditional sponsorships such as poker and airlines or something different.
Using big data in football sponsorships
A quick video to explain what big data is and how it works.
Big data is revolutionizing the way in which advertisers analyse data and target potential customer groups. The whole process is making advertising and sponsorships more streamlined to get real results for the companies as well as attempting to only try to appeal to people who would be interested in the offering. Internet giants, such as Google and social media websites, provide huge stacks of data for advertising companies to analyse and use to help form targeted campaigns.
With enough data, advertising companies can help to guide companies who want to sponsor football clubs and football players towards the best course of action. If big data analysis finds that people in a certain area perform more searches for soccer, their local team, or the local star player, companies can opt for a sponsorship partnership, and perhaps creating an ambassadorial role for a player, that would be more beneficial for both parties. Not only would an advertising campaign alongside a popular sports team raise the awareness of the brand, but it’d also increase the visibility of domestic players and clubs.
Sponsorships and football help each other greatly, each helping to raise the visibility of the other party. Regarding the Persian Gulf Pro League, relevant companies should analyse big data and see which clubs and players are the most popular and could bolster their sponsorship campaigns.