In the competitive landscape of the automotive sector in the Americas region, Toyota emerges as a dominant force, leading in both expenditure and deal volume. With a strong presence across various sports partnerships, particularly in motorsport and American football, Toyota’s strategic alliances underscore its commitment to engaging with diverse audiences. This signifies not only substantial financial investments but also a strategic alignment with sports that resonate deeply across the Americas, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’ s latest report, “Sponsorship Sector Report – Automotive Americas 2024,” includes a look at the main active brands in the Americas region (North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean) as well as movement in the sector over the last few years in the sport sponsorship industry.

Across the Americas region, motor racing is the most popular sport for automotive partnerships, with a total of 201 active deals. This is logical, with such extensive opportunities in the US through NASCAR and the IndyCar Series. American Football ranks second, with 98 deals.

Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Motorsport is very popular across the Americas, specifically home-grown racing like NACAR and IndyCar. This is evident through the large volume of deals between motor racing and automotive brands. Not forgetting American Football’s presence across the sector, where automotive brands have secured major deals with one of the most popular sports across the Americas.”

Looking at the largest deals in the Americas region, Toyota has the most lucrative deal with the National Football League (NFL), worth an estimated $40 million annually. This deal is over $20 million higher than Toyota’s second largest deal, with NASCAR. Chevrolet has the second most profitable deal, with Major League Baseball, a partnership which dates back to 2005.

Snooks continues: “Not only have automotive brands been keen to create partnerships with their associated sport, but also some of the main and most popular sports across the Americas. For example, Toyota has partnered with one of the biggest leagues in America. Being the official automotive partner of the NFL, the automotive brand is able to communicate its brand message to all football fans across the US.”

Toyota also comfortably led the field as the biggest spender across all automotive sport sponsors across the Americas, with an estimated annual spend of $176.82 million. Honda follows behind with $168.1 million, with its portfolio including highly lucrative deals with IndyCar and the NHL. Lastly, Ford follows just behind Honda, and has focused its spending on motor racing, specifically NASCAR.

Snooks concludes: “The vast amount of spend between some of the biggest automotive brands globally shows the value in sport sponsorship across the Americas. It is clear from the different sponsorships that certain brands focus on different sports, depending on where they see their branding of most value. For example, Toyota has made a commitment to the NFL, whereas Ford focuses on motor racing, as mentioned above.”