Research on sponsorship strategies of sports brands in sporting events: a case study of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States

With the continued globalization of the sports industry, major sporting events have become a primary marketing tool for sports brands to enhance their brand image and expand their markets. To examine the selection and implementation effectiveness of sponsorship strategies adopted by sports brands with different levels of resources, this study takes Nike, Adidas, and Puma, three leading international sports brands, as examples and examines their sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup. Using public information collected from platforms such as Baidu and Google, including corporate annual reports, official announcements, and industry reports, this study analyzes the differences among the three brands in their strategies for sponsoring the World Cup from the perspectives of industry resources and market positioning. The findings show that a company's financial strength, brand identity, and market objectives directly determine its choice of event sponsorship strategy. Without official sponsorship rights, Nike adopted an ambush marketing strategy combining star athletes with national teams. Adidas, by contrast, adopted a comprehensive sponsorship model combining its status as an official FIFA World Cup partner with sponsorship of leading national teams. With a limited budget, Puma focused on promising underdog teams and the emerging African market to achieve low-cost market penetration and broaden its brand reach. The effectiveness of event sponsorship is not necessarily proportional to the scale of investment. The ultimate returns are also influenced by the alignment between sponsorship and the brand's own positioning, the performance of sponsored teams during the tournament, and the overall supporting marketing activities. Nevertheless, different types of event sponsorship are all accompanied by corresponding risks.