The crisis at Volkswagen could lead to a reconsideration of the company's football sponsorship. This would strike a chord with many, as VW is not only an important partner nationally, but also internationally.
"We drive soccer" — Volkswagen describes its sponsorship of soccer with this slogan. In a narrower sense, this means that the car giant provides vehicles for football clubs and national teams. In a broader sense, the message could also be "We improve football". VW is committed to advancing football towards greater diversity and gender equality. But the question is to what extent the company will engage in this area in the future.
VW is currently facing a major crisis. It is reportedly planning to close three factories in Germany, and tens of thousands of employees fear for their jobs.
In this context, it is quite possible that VW will reduce its sponsorship activities in football.
Namely, the total financial support in this sector annually probably reaches a three-digit value in millions of euros. As part of the previous major crisis, following the 2015 emissions scandal, Volkswagen allowed some sponsorship deals to expire, such as those with traditional clubs such as FC Schalke 04 and 1860 Munich.
Volkswagen, founded in 1937 during the Nazi regime, was the world's largest car manufacturer in 2023 with a record turnover of over 320 billion euros. Last year, it delivered more than nine million vehicles to its customers and employed nearly 685.000 people worldwide.
VfL Wolfsburg as a key project
Volkswagen's financial support for football has almost 80 years of tradition. Club VfL Wolfsburg was created in 1945 after the Second World War from the "Workers' Sports Association Volkswagen". The Bundesliga from VW's headquarters has a "beacon function" in the sponsoring strategy, according to the company. The exact amount that VW invests in its club is not known, but it is believed to be between 70 and 80 million euros per year.
The Wolfsburg men's team won the German championship in 2009 and the German cup in 2015. The women's team is even more successful: it has won the Champions League twice, the German championship seven times and the German Cup eleven times.
In other German cities where it has factories, Volkswagen also supports local football clubs, including amateur ones, such as those in Hanover, Braunschweig, Kassel, Dresden and Zwickau.
Volkswagen also cooperates with the German record holder FC Bayern, in the youth sector. Audi, which is 8,3% owned by Volkswagen, is one of Bayern's main sponsors, with an XNUMX% stake and provides official vehicles for professional players.
DFB contract with reduced scope
VW has been sponsoring the DFB Cup since 2012, and since 2019 it is the main partner of the largest national football association in the world. This year, both parties extended the sponsorship contract until 2028. According to media reports, VW reduced its support from 30 to around 20 million euros per year. VW provides vehicles for the men's and women's national teams.
Internationally, VW has been a mobility partner for football associations and national teams for years. Thus, he has contracts with world vice-champion France (since 2014), Italy (since 2023), the Netherlands (since 2021), Switzerland (since 2014), Finland (since 2017), Denmark (since 2019) and Luxembourg ( from 2018).
In two of the three host countries of the next World Cup, VW also has cooperation: in Canada it sponsors the national professional league for men, the Canadian Premier League, while in the USA it is the "presentation partner" of the US Soccer Association. The VW logo is present on the training and jerseys of the American men's and women's national teams, and the contract lasts until the end of the 2026 World Cup.
Other international collaborations are also time-limited, so VW may let them expire due to savings.
That not every Volkswagen sports sponsorship contract is immutable was shown at the 2024 European Championship in Germany. After VW sponsored UEFA in previous championships, the company decided to withdraw from sponsoring the tournament at home, giving way to Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD. The reason, as stated, is "a program to increase efficiency and reduce costs at all levels (...) with the aim of preserving Volkswagen's future sustainability". So VW has to save - and when it comes to sponsorships.
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