Manchester United, FC Schalke 04 and an American F1 team have cut or minimized affiliations, but recent deals between Russian brands and U.S. companies like the NHL and HP are still in question.
Since Russia began attacking Ukraine earlier this week, sports teams, leagues and tournaments with Russian sponsors or hosts have begun rethinking their relationships. The famous British soccer team Manchester United announced plans to cancel its £40 million sponsorship deal with Aeroflot, the Russian airline that’s also now banned by the British government from flying in UK airspace. In Germany, the soccer team FC Schalke 04 is removing Russian oil giant Gazprom as a sponsor of its jerseys. Meanwhile, the German tabloid Bild will no longer show Gazprom’s logo on pages printed with Schalke jerseys, replacing it instead with the German text: “Freedom For Ukraine.” UEFA Champions League is reportedly considering ending a sponsorship deal with Gazprom and already announced plans to move the final match in May from St. Petersburg to Paris. Corporate branding on jerseys and cars are often prime real estate for advertisers and big money-makers for organizations that land them. But when it comes to international conflict, the price is far more costly than dollars as organizations quickly look to distance themselves from Russia, support Ukraine and avoid any impending sanctions. Sports, politics and brands are increasingly “on a head-on collision course,” says Forrester marketing analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee, who pointed out recent silence by Olympic sponsors in China and the mixed responses from Novak Djokovic’s sponsors after the tennis star was demoted from Australia over his vaccine status.
