Target to Sponsor Minnesota United FC Jerseys and Major League Soccer

Target to Sponsor Minnesota United FC Jerseys and Major League Soccer

Wes Burdine

January 18, 2017

News

When Minnesota United players don their inaugural MLS jerseys, they will have a bullseye on their chests. FiftyFive.One has learned that Minnesota United FC is set to announce Target Corporation as their sponsor tomorrow.

The multi-million dollar sponsorship is a big boost to United’s ambitions as it looks to recoup a large layout for an MLS franchise fee and a privately-financed stadium. The deal will be among the top ten largest jersey sponsorships in the league.

FiftyFive.One has also learned that Minnesota United has secured a sponsor for naming rights for its new St. Paul stadium, which is scheduled to be completed in late 2018 or early 2019. The stadium sponsor will not be Target but another corporation to be announced later.

Target are also poised to announce a partnership with MLS. In 2010, Volkswagen entered into an partnership with MLS; a portion of which saw the car manufacturer’s logo displayed on D.C. United’s jerseys. Target’s jersey sponsorship of Minnesota United is not part of the league partnership, but the two moves represent a broader shift by the company to focus on soccer.

In July of 2016, Target announced it would be ending its 27-year sponsorship of IndyCar. At the time, senior vice president Scott Nygaard explained the move, saying, “The Target brand is about being fresh and new, so we felt like this was the time to make the difficult decision and expand our sports marketing platform.” The shift toward soccer sponsorship can be seen as part of Target’s broader shift toward Hispanic customers.

Minnesota United has never had a sponsor for the front of its jersey, and it has been something of a white whale for the club. Previously, Atomic Data and the Mall of America had smaller jersey sponsorships (on the back and sleeve, respectively), but a sponsor on the front of the jersey can provide a significant amount of money for the club. In previous negotiations, the club valued its jersey sponsorship at around $4 million a year.

However, fans will have to wait until February to see how the jerseys will look with the new bullseye, as the club won’t be unveiling them for several more weeks.

Target Corporation generated $73.785 billion in revenue in 2015.

Jeff Rueter and Brian Quarstad contributed to this report.

Minnesota United FC, MLS, sponsorship, target

Next

Previous
17 responses to “Target to Sponsor Minnesota United FC Jerseys and Major League Soccer”
1. Alex Schieferdecker
  
  January 18, 2017
  
  I’m really hoping the logo is the restrained “small bullseye, text” type of logo instead of a big bullseye. But I ABSOLUTELY hope the GK kit has the big logo.
  
  Reply
  1. joechoj
    
    January 19, 2017
    
    How about an oversized loon with a tiny target as its red eye? 🙂 That would be fun.
    
    Reply
2. Chris RB
  
  January 18, 2017
  
  This makes tons of sense to me. Target does a lot of trying to make it’s brand look good, including donating to schools throughout the cities, etc etc.
  
  I can think of worse sponsors to have, even if the bullseye will likely be an eyesore on a jersey. Unless it’s worked in sleekly.
  
  Reply
3. TeresaFC
  
  January 18, 2017
  
  Target sponsored Minnesota Thunder jerseys for a long time. It’s nice to see them involved again
  
  Reply
4. Matt
  
  January 18, 2017
  
  Definitely a good news/bad news situation. Great sponsorship, but can’t imagine this looking good on the front of the jersey. Bullseye aside, the colors are just all wrong.
  
  Reply
  1. Matt
    
    January 18, 2017
    
    Also really hope it’s not a big ol’ red bullseye smack dab in the middle of the chest. I’ll take the word “Target” with a little bullseye next to it any day. Not to micromanage the design or anything.
    
    Reply
    
    nomadic loon
    
    January 18, 2017
    
    a big target, in the loon colors might work…. or small red targets on each sleeve, or a ;arger target centered on the left shoulder so it covers on left breast and left sleeve of the jersey. there are possibilities that could really work.
    
    Reply
    
    John Herman
    
    January 19, 2017
    
    Yeah, understated gray concentric circles around the team crest could look fine. Might also look like Target controls the team or something though I guess. I do hope it’s not centered a la VW for DC though
    
    Reply
5. Tres Gatos
  
  January 18, 2017
  
  I am happy that we have a shirt sponsor since that means money is being invested in the team. But I think I’ll definitely be looking more towards getting a practice jersey (without the sponsor) than the game jersey (with the sponsor).
  
  I do like that if we are going to have a sponsor, it is a big local one. Rather than some random a$$ company that I have never heard of before or some pyramid scheme. ?
  
  Reply
6. godzillabeautyqueen
  
  January 18, 2017
  
  It will probably be just a neutral color bullseye. The Sounders colors are conveniently close to XBOX, but not exactly. Alaska Airlines logo has always fit into the style of the Timbers jersey. I expect the same here.
  
  Reply
  1. John Herman
    
    January 19, 2017
    
    This is my biggest caveat. The Target logo in the press release is gray, so I’m encouraged here. Although a tiny red logo for the Loon’s eye as mentioned above would be a unique touch.
    
    Reply
7. Loonited
  
  January 19, 2017
  
  I understand the need for a sponsor but I will miss the days of the simple and elegant wing
  
  Reply
8. MmattN
  
  January 19, 2017
  
  Shoot, if Menards becomes the stadium sponsor it’s gonna something outta MN soccer fans fantasies from the early oughts
  
  Reply
  1. Clark Starr
    
    January 23, 2017
    
    I’d say no thanks to a Menards sponsor. Odious ownership there.
    
    Reply
9. Charles Spolyar
  
  January 19, 2017
  
  I guess you’d call this Target Allocation Money?
  
  Reply
10. Etch
  
  January 19, 2017
  
  Millions of people are boycotting target because they allow men in the women’s rest rooms. Logo should be a small sewn on patch so it can be removed. Myself I never liked the sponsor on the front of the jersey. Americans only notice the sponsor’s logo. For example, they always ask where team Opel or Sharp comes from whenever I wear one of the jerseys in my collection. The shirt from Mexico with Bimbo as a sponsor really gets a lot of comments too. It would be great to keep the giant loon on the front.
  
  Reply
  1. Kdog
    
    January 20, 2017
    
    Yo Etch – roll that bigoted cr*p back to where it came from. Plenty of valid reasons to criticize Target, but “men in the women’s rest rooms” isn’t one. Target agreed not to discriminate against Trans people. That is a good thing.
    Now about their low wage jobs . . .
    
    Reply
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *

Email *

Website

Δ

Target to Sponsor Minnesota United FC Jerseys and Major League Soccer

When Minnesota United players don their inaugural MLS jerseys, they will have a bullseye on their chests. FiftyFive.One has learned that Minnesota United FC is set to announce Target Corporation as their sponsor tomorrow.

17 responses to “Target to Sponsor Minnesota United FC Jerseys and Major League Soccer”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Subscribe to Our Newsletter!