New data from SponsorshipUnited shows that the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs head into Super Bowl LVII with impressive gains off the field in their sponsorship efforts during their championship-caliber seasons.
More than over 40% of sponsorship, media, and vendor deals for both the Chiefs and Eagles were new deals in the 2022 season. In terms of total sponsorship deals for the season, the Eagles scored over 100 and the Chiefs landed over 60. SponsorshipUnited reported.
SponsorUnited, which tracks 1.1 million sponsorships, media and endorsements across 250,000 brands and properties spanning sports, media, music and entertainment, also reported that three of the top 10 most-endorsed NFL athletes across social media this season are playing in the Super Bowl. Data was analyzed from the NFL training camp into the regular season, spanning June 2022 to January 2023.
Top Sponsors for the Eagles, by volume of deals, included: Lincoln Financial; Bud Light (also a partner of the League); Firstrust Bank; Miller Lite; and Toyota.
Top Sponsors for the Chiefs, by volume of deals, included: GEHA (Government Employees Health Association); Bud Light (also a partner of the League); T-Mobile; CommunityAmerica Credit Union; and Hy-Vee.
“Playing in the Super Bowl helps both teams in a myriad of ways—one being the ability to deepen the connection with global audiences, as NFL teams were awarded international marketing rights just this year,” said Bob Lynch, founder and CEO of SponsorUnited. “Gaining this level of exposure helps activate and grow their fanbases in numerous countries outside of the U.S. For the Eagles, this means even greater exposure and affinity in Australia, New Zealand and Ghana, and for the Chiefs even more so, as they share their designated rights to Germany and Mexico with several other NFL teams.”
The researchers also found that three of the top 10 athletes in the NFL—ranked by total social endorsements—will be playing in the Super Bowl: JuJu Smith Schuster and Travis Kelce of the Chiefs, and Devonta Smith of the Eagles. Schuster has 15 brand endorsements while Kelce has 14 and Smith has 11. Kelce’s brother, Jason, is also playing in the Super Bowl for the Eagles but is not among the most-endorsed NFL athletes this season.
Between the two teams, the Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is the most-followed player on social media with 8.1M+ followers across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Although Mahomes does not rank among the top 10 NFL players in terms of social endorsements, he is fifth among the most-followed players in the NFL. He has nine brand endorsements and 32 branded posts on his social platforms, the researchers said.
