D.C. United has announced a new sponsorship deal with Volkswagen that places the company’s logo on all team jerseys and gives the company first right of refusal for naming rights to a new soccer stadium.
The five-year agreement, valued at about $14 million, is one of the most lucrative in soccer and gives the automaker the rights to as many as five advertising signs throughout United’s current home at RFK Stadium. Volkswagen also will build an interactive area beyond the stadium’s center field with a vehicle showroom, T-shirt screening and games.
“We left our jersey blank for a long time because it was so important that the brand we associated with matched up and complemented our D.C. United brand,” said D.C. United managing partner Victor MacFarlane. “I’m pleased to say we’ve found that brand.”
Volkswagen’s global headquarters is located in Wolfsburg, Germany. The company owns the Vfl Wolfsburg soccer club and a share of the Volkswagen Arena Stadium. United officials said they visited the Wolfsburg facility during their negotiations on this deal and that Volkswagen would be a strong choice for a naming partner for a new stadium for the team.
“It’s certainly natural for us to have conversations about a longer and even broader relationship with Volkswagen as our stadium plans begin to take firmer shape,” Mr. Payne said. “They understand how to do this because in Wolfsburg they have their name on the stadium and the team that plays there wears the Volkswagen logo on their chest. So they’re looking, theoretically, at the same kind of possibility with us.”
United has been looking for years to move out of RFK into a new soccer-specific stadium, and officials have stated a preference to build at the Poplar Point site in Southeast. However, both Payne and MacFarlane said today that there have been no formal talks about the stadium for weeks.
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