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IMG, SUM awarded commercial rights to Copa America Centenario

Photo by Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports
Photo by Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports

CONCACAF and CONMEBOL awarded commercial rights for Copa America Centenario 2016 to two familiar firms to U.S. on Wednesday.

Marketing agency IMG and the commercial arm of Major League Soccer, Soccer United Marketing (SUM), won the commercial rights for Copa America Centenario, set to be held in the U.S. next summer.

IMG and SUM were not originally set to handle the sponsorship arrangements and broadcast deals because marketing firm Datisa had the rights, but U.S. Soccer pushed for a new contract to be issued due to the corruption scandal surrounding Datisa.

The two subsequently had to compete against 10 other firms vying for the rights, while CONCACAF and CONMEBOL chose the pair based on proposed financial models, the bidder’s reputation, resources and experience in the field, among other criteria.

The process to chose replacements was closely monitored by an independent third party advisory firm, and CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout said he hopes to continue using this method in the future.

“We are very pleased to have participated in this process along with CONCACAF and U.S. Soccer, for the commercial rights of Copa America Centenario 2016,” Napout said in a release. “This is the first time that CONMEBOL has played a part in this type of (Request for Proposal) process — which we will continue to implement in the future, starting in 2016. This commitment is an integral part of the governance reforms taking place at CONMEBOL in order to ensure transparency and benefit all our member associations.”

This development comes after CONCACAF replaced Traffic Sports with SUM as its commercial representative for the CONCACAF Cup.

What do you think of this SUM and IMG receiving the commercial rights?

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Comments

  1. No mention has been made on how the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF will handle the money that has been exchanged, spent or used by the previous marketing group, Daitsu and whether the third parties, like Televisa who bought commercial rights to broadcast from Daitsu will get their money back (Daitsu’s bank accounts were frozen) You also have some accounts for the Centenario set up by different federation (which have been frozen too) You would imagine that these issues would have been ironed out before the tournament would be allowed to proceed, but hey, this is FIFA soccer, where you never know whats going on or what’s gonna happen or who its gonna happen to.

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  2. Well this 3rd party oversight between the two federations and the whole awarding process seems like a step in the right direction. Maybe this can be implemented on the next FIFA WC/MLS/US National team broadcast rights.

    Does anyone know of other federations who use a similar process?

    Reply

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