Source: GlobalData
FIFA and Wanda Group partnership largest annual sponsorship deal in construction and real estate sector, reveals GlobalData
Posted in Sport
In 2016, Wanda Group signed a 15-year deal, which sees the brand serve as a top-tier FIFA partner. Under the agreement, Wanda secured rights to all FIFA competitions and corporate activities, extending through the 2030 World Cup, with a deal value reported to be approximately $56.57 million per year. Alongside the brands’ partnership with FIFA, Wanda Group is the highest spending brand across the construction and real estate sector in 2025, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’ s latest report, “Sponsorship Sector Report – Construction & Real Estate 2025”, reveals that across the construction and real estate sector, soccer commands the top position in terms of annual sponsorship revenue and deal volume in 2025. Mitsui Fudosan is recognized as the most active brand across the sector, boasting 11 active partnerships in 2025.
Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Wanda Group was the first Chinese company to achieve top-tier partner status with FIFA. The partnership between Wanda Group and FIFA aims to facilitate the advancement of grassroots soccer development in China and across China.”
Saudi Arabia has seen a surge in the construction and real estate sector’s involvement with the sports sponsorship industry and occupies a significant portion of the higher-value partnerships across the sector. Brands including Roshn and Red Sea Global, both are owned by the Saudi backed Public Investment Fund (PIF) have both partnered with teams competing in the Saudi Professional League, the top-flight soccer league in Saudi Arabia. Roshn’s naming rights partnership with the Saudi Professional League is one of the largest partnerships across the sector.
Snooks continues: “The PIF’s involvement in the sponsorship activities across the Saudi Professional League has had a major impact on soccer across Saudi Arabia. The PIF has essentially taken control of the biggest clubs across the Saudi Pro League, as well as the league itself. Through Roshn serving as the league’s title partner and the PIF owning four of the biggest clubs across the league, this enables the fund to not only benefit from one of their brands gaining exposure but also four of their teams gaining more revenue.”
Despite a decline in the number and total value of transactions within the construction and real estate sector from 2018 to 2019, the industry has experienced consistent year-over-year growth in both the quantity of agreements signed and their cumulative annual worth through 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, the volume of deals signed plateaued; however, the annual value of these deals increased. Taking this into consideration, it could be suggested that even though the volume of deals agreed upon has not increased, the value of the deals that brands across the sector are committing to is growing.
Snooks concludes: “2025 will present uncertainty for the global economy given the tariffs, which have been implemented by US President Donald Trump. As tariffs elevate the expense of imported materials, including steel and aluminum, construction firms frequently find themselves absorbing these increased costs. The degree to which these developments will influence the construction and real estate sector’s engagement in the sports sponsorship arena remains to be determined.
“However, it is important to mention that as the tariffs only apply to materials being imported into the US, for brands that do not do business in the US, they are less likely to be affected; the situation is also very changeable with tariff rates changing and having already been postponed for 90 days since the original announcement.”