What are the latest trends in Major League Soccer sponsorships that the clubs can tap into to target brands more effectively?

To answer this and help MLS clubs better identify who to target and what angle to use, caytoo analysed the partnership portfolio of MLS clubs ( as of October 2025: 1,024 partners) as well as deals signed by the clubs since 2023 and how this compares with other soccer sponsorship deals signed around the world (5,200+ deals).

Most popular categories among the MLS partner portfolio

From a pure ‘numbers game’ perspective, the chart below shows the most viable categories for MLS clubs to target because they account for the greatest number of current partners.

Alcohol and Soft Drinks lead the way, primarily through supplier-type partnerships at the teams’ stadiums.

Specialist Professional Services, encompass a very wide range of micro-categories to target including waste management, office and media solutions and facilities management etc.

Gap analysis among most common partners

MLS teams can also prioritize targeting categories most likely to partner with MLS clubs overall but in which your club does not currently have a partner.

This is because the pitch can highlight how common it is for rival brands in that category to partner with an MLS team (inferring many competitors deem it an effective marketing channel) but there is a rare opportunity left for the targeted brand(s) to do the same.

Most common MLS partners

The most common brand partners are dominated by auto and drinks.

Tire manufacturer Continental leads the way through its role as the Official Tire of Major League Soccer – a designation it has held since 2010.

These brands are good candidates to pitch particularly in the case of a regional expansion or campaign, as they already have a multi-club strategy in other markets.

Knowing the most common brands is also a good way to identify targets by going after their competitors. The angle being that when a brand does multiple sponsorships, they clearly deem it an effective marketing channel, therefore a competitor brand is at a disadvantage if it doesn’t do the same.

Chart available in full report.

Most popular categories signing MLS deals since 2023

From a ‘trending’ perspective, the chart below shows the most viable categories for MLS clubs to target because these have signed the most deals since 2023.

When compared to the current partner portfolio, the most notable ‘uplift’ in activity is among Foods and other categories listed in full Major League Soccer sponsorships report. Except for foods, none of these listed are a Top 10 category among the current partner portfolio.

So, MLS clubs should prioritize targeting these as their interest in the MLS has grown the most. ‘Emerging’ categories also tend to have less competition in terms of approaches from rights holders.

Categories where MLS is under-performing most vs rest of soccer

The categories in the below chart are where MLS rights holders compare least favourably to the rest of soccer in terms of deals signed since 2023.

They are ordered by the biggest differential e.g. Gambling accounts for 1.0% of MLS deals compared to 9.6% of other soccer deals, a differential of -8.6%.

So, in this sense, these are categories to prioritize targeting, as there is a lot of room to grow based on what is being achieved in the rest of soccer (i.e. around the world).

Why sponsors do deals with MLS clubs compared to the rest of soccer

Reason X is the main reason sponsors sign deals with MLS clubs, and it is a much bigger factor compared to the rest of soccer. So, it makes sense to focusing on this benefit when pitching the advantages of sponsoring your club because it clearly resonates more strongly in the MLS.

Insights and chart available in full report.

How deal types in MLS compared with the rest of soccer

Deal type X is nearly twice the factor in the MLS compared to the rest of soccer. So, it makes sense to focus on this when pitching the advantages of sponsoring your club because it resonates much more strongly in the MLS.

Insights and chart available in full report.

How deal preferences differ by category

Not all categories are the same in terms of why they are most likely to do deals or what types of rights they prefer to engage with.

So, it makes sense to alter the thrust of your initial pitch by factoring in the different preferences shown in the chart to maximize the chances of engaging the target brand.

The full data is covered in the full ‘Major League Soccer sponsorships’ report.