How Leagues Cup supercharged soccer and its advertising partners

When Major League Soccer teamed up with Liga MX, Mexico’s top professional soccer league, to announce the revamped Leagues Cup event last year, the two organizations promised an exciting event combining the fast-paced action of March Madness with the soccer splendor of the World Cup. They designed the event to engage fans and motivate players, providing a unique opportunity for brand partners during the mid-summer lull on the sports calendar. This summer, Leagues Cup delivered all that—and more. MLS and Liga MX paused their regular season so all 47 clubs could participate, and during the course of 77 matches, played from July 21 to the penalty kick nail-biter finale on August 19, Leagues Cup opened a new chapter for North American soccer. “Leagues Cup was one of the most ambitious and innovative events ever produced at a club level from a global soccer standpoint,” said Adrienne Barber, senior VP of properties for Leagues Cup. “The first edition was incredibly successful at every level—for the leagues, for fans and for brand partners. The immediacy and passion with which current fans and new fans embraced the tournament was exciting.” Big stakes draw big interest Clubs and players understood these games were not “friendlies.” Leagues Cup featured total prize money of nearly $40 million and guaranteed slots in the Concacaf Champions Cup, with the winner automatically qualifying directly to the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. Player engagement and on-field focus translated to the fans. On average, Leagues Cup fans are under 39 years old—younger than the NFL (47.2), MLB (46.9), NHL (43.4) and NBA (41.9), according to YouGov research.¹ Like MLS fans, they are digitally native and rabid social media users. Nearly 1.3 million fans attended Leagues Cup matches in person, with the Inter Miami-Nashville final drawing a record sellout crowd of more than 30,000 fans at Nashville’s state-of-the-art Geodis Park. Celebrities from Reese Witherspoon to Giannis Antetokounmpo helped make it the “can’t miss” event of the summer. And sparked by high-scoring matches, passionate players, and the MLS debut of global superstar Lionel Messi, Leagues Cup generated some of the highest TV viewership, social media, and product sales numbers ever for MLS and Liga MX. “In person and in many of our activations, we saw new fans and people participate who had never been in our soccer ecosystem before,” said Barber. “We had an opportunity to bring in fans who were following the tournament, and maybe are not following our regular season. With the sports calendar open in the summertime, we saw a lot of new people engaged with the sport and current fans interact in deeper ways than ever before—and obviously Messi was a big part of that.” The number of subscribers to Apple’s MLS Season Pass streaming package more than doubled after Messi signed with Inter Miami CF. For partner brands, high fan engagement translated into high awareness and affinity. A new study by MarketCast found that 57% of Leagues Cup fans had high familiarity with official partners—a score higher than the firm’s 51% benchmark across the major North American leagues. Greg Truex, VP of sports and sponsorships at MarketCast, added “Soccer fans are among the most loyal fans to their clubs and leagues, which shined bright in this research. MLS and Liga MX fans recognized and recalled the tournament partners, indicating a high degree of favorability towards official partners.” And 56% of fans had high affinity for official Leagues Cup partners, compared to the 42% benchmark across the major leagues, according to MarketCast.² ‹ › × (Click image to enlarge) Credit: Infographic by Ad Age.Source: MarketCast 2023 ©️. All Rights Reserved. Some 74% of avid Leagues Cup fans said they support the event’s official partners — the eleven brands and corporations which signed on for the inaugural Leagues Cup. Coors Light was an early partner. Custom packaging in retail outlets, point-of-sale displays, and a soccer-themed TV commercial were bolstered by digital and social activations during the tournament. “From thematic packaging and cooling scarves to on-site activations, athlete engagements and more, our partnership helped us keep passionate soccer fans refreshed across the country during the most intense moments of the tournament,” said Marcelo Pascoa, VP of Coors Family of Brands. “We look forward to continuing our Leagues Cup partnership in the future, collaborating on even bigger plans to reach more soccer fans in 2024.” In addition, Proximo Spirits’ Gran Centenario, the official tequila of Leagues Cup, established a strong on-site presence with branded concession areas and a cocktail developed exclusively for the event. “Through a series of activations and fan engagement across 29 stadiums in North America, we successfully connected with these soccer fans on-site at the tournament,” said Lander Otegui, senior VP of marketing at Proximo Spirits. “Fans enjoyed thousands of Gran Copa Paloma cocktails from the concession stands, portable bars and VIP suites.” Otegui noted that Gran Centenario had over 770 minutes of digital in-stadium ads and signage as part of a strategic media plan that also generated millions of earned impressions. “For brands, it provided them a great opportunity to get involved in the sport,” Barber said. “Whether it is an extension of their existing soccer portfolio investment, or if they are new to the sport, Leagues Cup is a way that they can really make an impact.” A leadup to the big event Leagues Cup is priming the market for what’s to come on North American soccer’s runway to 2026, when Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. will jointly host the FIFA World Cup. Following the exciting Leagues Cup action, it is increasingly clear that soccer’s moment has arrived and everyone wants in. “This event demonstrates how the leaders of our sport in the region are aligned in creating that rocket fuel to grow the popularity of soccer as we head into 2026,” Barber said. “But for Leagues Cup the time is now. We are really proud of where we landed for year one, and we are excited to work with MLS, Liga MX, and Concacaf to build on that success heading into 2024.” Sources ¹ YouGov 2023 ©. All Rights Reserved. ² MarketCast 2023 ©. All Rights Reserved. About Leagues Cup Leagues Cup represents a monumental new chapter for North American soccer. Beginning in 2023, Major League Soccer and Liga MX will pause their seasons each summer and all 47 first-division professional soccer clubs in the United States, Mexico, and Canada will compete in the annual World Cup-style tournament. As an official Concacaf competition, Leagues Cup will qualify the top three finishers to the Concacaf Champions Cup. Leagues Cup is part of the evolution of the successful partnership between MLS and Liga MX that launched in 2018. The partnership is rooted in on-field rivalry but connected by a true spirit of collaboration off the field, with a focus on sharing best practices, growing the beautiful game in North America, and being a force for positive change in the communities of both leagues. About Liga MX Liga MX is the first division of Mexican soccer, comprised of 18 clubs from across the country and headquartered at La Casa del Fútbol, a sports and office complex in Toluca, Mexico. Liga MX was founded in 2012 to give a new vision to the Primera División format and the structure of the other divisions. Mexico's main competition ranks among the top 10 Leagues in the world in terms of attendance and squad value. Liga MX is also comprised of Liga MX Femenil, Liga Expansión MX, and the U-20, U-18, U-16, and U-14 tournaments. Visit www.ligamx.net for more information. About Soccer United Marketing Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the commercial arm of Major League Soccer (MLS), is the pre-eminent commercial soccer enterprise in North America, overseeing the commercialization, marketing, promotion and operational execution of the region’s most successful soccer matches and events, including Major League Soccer, the Mexican Men’s and Women’s National Teams for the U.S. market (MexTour and MexTour W), Leagues Cup, and Campeones Cup, as well as spearheading sponsorship sales for top Concacaf competitions including Concacaf Gold Cup, Concacaf Nations League Finals, Concacaf Champions Cup, and Concacaf W. In addition, SUM held the promotional and commercial rights to the highly successful 2016 Copa America Centenario. About Major League Soccer Headquartered in New York, Major League Soccer (MLS)—celebrating its 29th season in 2024—features 30 clubs throughout the United States and Canada, including a new expansion team in San Diego that will debut in 2025. All MLS, Leagues Cup and select MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches can be watched through MLS Season Pass, available on the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. MLS Season Pass features the most expansive and accessible lineup of programming ever for MLS fans. For more information about MLS, visit mlssoccer.com. For more information about the Apple TV app, visit apple.com/apple-tv-app.

How Leagues Cup supercharged soccer and its advertising partners

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