Claro, sole FIFA sponsor for Qatar in AL

Mexican businessman Carlos Slim is one of the main sponsors of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, through Claro, a subsidiary of América Móvil, through its telecommunications services in South America.

Claro is the only Mexican brand that appears among the sponsors of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), according to data from Global Data.

In addition, together with the Brazilian Nubank, they are the two Latin American brands that reached an agreement with FIFA to promote the tournament.

The countries in which Claro will offer its Qatar 2022 World Cup promotions are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The fact that the agreement does not include Mexico stands out.

Valentín Mendoza, Director of Stock Market Research at Actinver Casa de Bolsa, assured that Claro is the name under which Carlos Slim’s company competes in the telecommunications sector in South America, unlike Mexico where it offers its mobile phone services through the Telcel brand and fixed telephony and internet through the Telmex brand.

The Actinver analyst assured that more than making money, Claro’s objective with this investment is “to position its brand in the Latin American market.”

Neither FIFA nor Claro have made public the amount the company had to pay.

Valentín Mendoza assured that the fact that Mexico is not included in the agreement that Claro reached with FIFA has to do with the positioning that its brands already have in the country.

“Telcel is one of the most important brands in Mexico, it is a leader in telecommunications (…) Here it does not need this advertising ‘boost'”, he commented. Of the 125.8 million mobile phone lines in the country, 63% are from América Móvil, 18% from Movistar, 16% from AT&T and the remaining 2.5% are from Virtual Mobile Operators (MVNOs), according to data from the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT).

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Carlos González, Director of Analysis at Monex Casa de Bolsa, explained that the fact that only América Móvil, through Claro, will be the only one directly sponsoring FIFA for the World Cup, does not mean that it will be the only one in benefit from sports tournament.

“There are other ways, especially for the local market, where other sponsors will be involved,” he said.

The Mexican Soccer Team has among its sponsors Banorte and the payment method Visa. Carla Juan Chelala, General Director of Marketing at Banorte, explained that sponsoring the Mexican National Team represents a great challenge to reach their clients and permeate them with offers that can benefit them.

He commented that through payroll cards and now credit cards, discounts are offered to their customers in establishments such as Domino’s Pizza, Krispy Kreme, Sushiitto, Dairy Queen, El Globo or Chillis, to name a few.

Banorte also has offers to open accounts or increase the amounts saved, Mexican National Team shirts and even blankets with the national team logo.

Darío Cutin, Vice President of Communications at Visa México, commented that they only sponsor two national teams, Mexico and the United States. In an interview, he explained that Visa has been a FIFA partner since 2007, with which it not only advertises in the tournament, but also has access to a series of exclusive experiences such as being able to take its clients to the matches.

“(The World Cup) is an excellent platform to reach practically everyone with our message, our technology, the payment innovations that we develop, both for those who have the possibility of going to the World Cup venue and also for those who that they experience and accompany remotely,” he said.

The Mexican National Team has among its sponsors for the World Cup Adidas, AT&T, Banorte, Coca-Cola, the crypto platform Bitso and the unicorn Kavak, among others.

Of these, four are public companies listed on the Stock Exchange. The one with the highest value is Coca-Cola, with a capitalization of 261.720 million dollars, followed by AT&T (134.914 million dollars). The Adidas brand is the third most valuable in the group, with a market cap of 25.590 million dollars, followed by Banorte (22.502 million).

Regarding broadcast rights, Televisa Univisión will have exclusive rights to broadcast the Qatar 2022 World Cup in Mexico. Thanks to this, the telecommunications company expects to see a boost in revenue during the last quarter of this year.

Francisco de Angoitia, executive co-president of Grupo Televisa, said in a conference with analysts that thanks to the broadcast of the World Cup, the company will be able to meet its goal of double-digit growth in sales during 2022.

termometro.economico@eleconomista.mx