From badges to ballers: Why brands are betting on players, not properties

As World Cup fever builds, some of the most talked-about football partnerships seem to be playing by a different set of rules. Over the past few weeks, football fans scrolling social media may have noticed a curious run of partnership announcements:

• Erling Haaland (Norway national team / Manchester City) speaking Mandarin for Chinese herbal drink Wang Lao Ji. 
• Declan Rice (England national team / Arsenal) teaming up with Xiaomi, much to the delight of Chinese fans who have long nicknamed him "Big Rice" — an amusing fit for a brand whose name literally translates to "Little Rice".
• Bukayo Saka (England national team / Arsenal) fronting a global campaign for WhatsApp.
  

At first glance, it looks like the usual pre-World Cup marketing rush. Football's biggest tournament is around the corner and brands are looking for a way in. But look a little closer and something more interesting is happening: The brands aren't partnering with football. They're partnering with footballers.

And that small distinction may tell us something interesting about where sports marketing is heading next. For decades, sports marketing belonged to institutions
Historically, brands entered sport through established properties. If you want credibility, you partner with FIFA. If you want fandom, you partner with leagues and clubs. If you want visibility during major tournaments, you sponsor teams.

The logic was simple: institutions controlled attention. Brands paid for access to audiences through the organisations fans cared about. And for good reason. FIFA
sponsorship remains one of the most powerful marketing platforms in the world. Club partnerships continue to deliver scale, prestige and global reach. But they are no longer the only route in. Because somewhere along the way, the audience stopped following only the badge. They started following the people wearing it.

The conversation has moved closer to the individual

A generation ago, a player's visibility was largely determined by what happened on the pitch, through match broadcasts and sports media coverage. Today, football culture rarely stays there. Fans follow transfer rumours like breaking news. They consume highlights before full matches. They create memes, listen to podcasts, and watch behind-thescenes social content. Sometimes, they care more about what happens after the final whistle than during the 90 minutes itself.

We're living in an era where Haaland's brother's LinkedIn profile being unearthed by internet sleuths can become a social hot topic for days. The relationship is no longer confined to the club, the competition or even the sport itself. It travels with the individual.

The partnerships that shouldn't work, but do

If brands were simply chasing World Cup exposure, then the playbook should be straightforward — back teams and players who will feature prominently on football's biggest stage. Yet some of the most revealing recent partnerships do the exact opposite.

Take Chery's partnership with Robert Lewandowski (Poland National Team captain / Barcelona).

Poland didn't qualify for the World Cup. By traditional sponsorship logic, that should significantly reduce his value heading into a World Cup year. In football terms, it shouldn’t even make the starting XI. Yet the Chinese car manufacturer signed him as a global ambassador anyway. Because his influence extends well beyond any single competition. His personal brand remains one of football's most recognisable assets regardless of whether he steps onto a World Cup pitch.

What's interesting is that Chery didn't stop there. Alongside Lewandowski, the brand also sponsors the Algeria national team. One puts Chery in the tournament. The other keeps it in the conversation long after the fixtures are over.

Then there's Coca-Cola. As one of FIFA's longest-standing partners, Coca-Cola already has direct access to the tournament itself. Yet earlier this year, the brand announced a multi-year partnership with Cole Palmer (English footballer / Chelsea), leaning into the player's now-famous "ice cold" persona.

When Palmer was unexpectedly left out of Thomas Tuchel's England squad for World Cup, some questioned whether the partnership had suddenly lost relevance. But that assumes Coca-Cola was buying World Cup minutes.

It wasn't. The brand was betting on one of football's most talked-about personalities. His value wasn't tied to a team sheet. It was tied to the audience he already commands.

Even the rights holders want more than rights

Perhaps the most fascinating example comes from Visa. As an official FIFA partner, it already has access to some of the most coveted assets in world sport. Yet even Visa isn't relying on the logo alone. Its recent work leans into Jason Sudeikis, an actor best known for portraying a fictional football manager. Not a player. Not a club. Not even a real football figure.

At first glance, it feels unrelated. In reality, it perfectly illustrates the changing role of sponsorship. Having your logo on the pitch is valuable, but it doesn’t mean affection. Stories, personalities, and characters do, even if it’s fictional. At dentsu Sports & Entertainment, we're seeing the most effective programmes treat sponsorships and personalities as teammates rather than alternatives. One brings scale and legitimacy. The other provides context, emotion and stories people choose to follow.

What this means for marketers

The implications extend far beyond football.

1. The question isn't what you buy. It's what you need it to do.

A sponsorship, a player partnership, a creator collaboration or a brand ambassador are all tools. The more useful question isn't which asset is "better", but what job it needs to do. Some assets build credibility. Others create affinity. Others spark conversation. The strongest programmes start with the objective, then choose the asset accordingly.

2. Don't just look at performance. Look at pull.

The best partnerships aren't always built around who's lifting the trophy. They're built around who's driving the conversation. The player with a cult following. The one whose story, nickname or running joke has evolved into part of fan culture. The one whose journey already feels like a natural extension of the brand. Instead of asking who has the biggest fanbase, ask why that fanbase exists in the first place.

3. The announcement is no longer the headline.

The partnership deal itself is often the least interesting part. What matters is whether it creates something people want to share, meme, remix, or participate in afterwards. The partnerships that punch above their weight are usually the ones designed for participation from the start, turning assets into cultural moments people want to pass along.

The future of sports marketing may not belong to those who own the stage

As World Cup fever builds, football will once again dominate screens and headlines around the world. But perhaps the most interesting lesson isn't about football at all.

Because the same pattern is already playing out across sport. Formula 1 drivers are becoming fashion icons and lifestyle brands. NBA stars are building audiences that travel with them from team to team. Esports fans often tune in for the streamers and star players before they tune in for the competition. The badge, the tournament, the rights still matter.

But increasingly, they're only the entry ticket, not the whole match. For decades, sports marketing was built around access to institutions. Today, the strongest sports marketing strategies are pairing institutions with the personalities audiences care about most. Not because the stage matters less. Because the people standing on it matter more than ever.

This article was written by Emmy Ip, senior strategist, Dentsu Hong Kong