World Cup 2026: Rising Sponsor Dollars For 13 Host Markets

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 6 hours ago

Recent rising sponsorship trends point to high expectations that major brands will come out in force for next year's major World Cup soccer events, according to SponsorUnited, a research company focused on sports marketing.

Over the last three years, 765 brands in 13 markets have placed sponsorships on teams in Major League Soccer -- up 12% since 2022.

 Average spend per brand rose 7% to $452,000.

Since 2022, there has been a 5% increase in the number of deals to 955 in those 13 markets.

Social-media metrics have also grown substantially to 67.3 million total followers -- up threefold since 2022. And better still for advertisers, average brand engagement via social media hit a total of 33 million engagement actions this year -- 331% higher than 2022.

The biggest individual sponsors for MLS include BMO, a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company, at around $23 million per year. This is about 60% of its overall sports ad/sponsorship spend on sports.

Royal Caribbean Cruises was next at $20 million in soccer sponsor spend -- around 98% of its total sports spend.

Looking specifically at the World Cup 2026 host markets, the 13 markets total $4.5 billion in total team sponsorships.

Soccer sponsorship deals only represent 9% of total sports sponsorship in those markets.

The New York/New Jersey market pulls in $758 million per year, followed by Los Angeles at $754 million, San Francisco/Oakland with $421 million, Dallas at $385 million, and Boston at $360 million.