By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Visa will end its three-decade NFL sponsorship run when its contract expires in March 2026, opting instead to invest in team, player and creator partnerships that it says better align with its marketing strategy, Visa Chief Marketing Officer Frank Cooper told Reuters.
Rival American Express will take over the NFL's credit and payment card sponsorship category in a deal worth about $910 million over seven years, according to Sports Business Journal. An AmEx spokesperson
declined to comment.
Cooper declined to comment on the reported terms of the AmEx deal and did not say whether Visa had been offered the same terms for renewal. But he said inflation in sports rights costs across major properties was forcing tougher choices.
"We love the NFL... but we decided there was a better way for Visa beyond acquiring the NFL league rights," Cooper said, citing rising rights costs and the opportunity to build fan-focused content and experiences.
Visa instead intends to expand its NFL footprint through individual clubs and talent, renewing a deal with the San Francisco 49ers and adding to its current roster of eight teams, he said.
The company plans to lean less on traditional sponsorship assets such as hospitality, logo placement and in-broadcast advertising, and more on original content, alternative media, creators and live events that "add value to the fan experience," Cooper said.
"We intend to continue to invest in the NFL significantly, probably more than we did before, but it will look different."
The shift comes as Visa prepares for a three-year global sports cycle anchored by events where it holds top-tier rights: the FIFA men's World Cup in North America in 2026, the women's World Cup in Brazil in 2027, and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Visa is a long-time global partner of FIFA and the IOC.
Cooper said next year's World Cup - expanded to 48 teams across 16 cities - will be "the biggest ever" and a cultural focal point in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
He said Visa will apply the same fan-first model it piloted around the Paris 2024 Olympics, where it staged a kickoff concert at the Louvre with singer Post Malone, activated 147 Team Visa athletes as creators and worked with more than 134,000 small businesses across France.
"If we can ever prove out that this model has an impact, you'll see it over this three-year arc," Cooper said.
Visa's NFL contract runs through the end of the current 2025-26 season.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Jamie Freed)
