May 22 – Mastercard is moving swiftly into the top tier of the women’s club football market in Europe announcing a second team sponsorship in two days.
Following on from their hook-up with Arsenal, the global payment card brand has unveiled a three-year partnership with six times Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais.
A club press release said: “This partnership sends a strong signal in favour of gender equality in sports and reflects both Mastercard’s and Olympique Lyonnais’ long-standing engagement for diversity, inclusion and parity.”
For more than 25 years, Mastercard has been one of main actor in term of sponsoring of Women’s Football. As for the Olympique Lyonnais, the club is widely recognized as a global benchmark in Women’s sports in any sports, in the words used by the New York Times the day before the UEFA Women Champions League final. The Olympique Lyonnais won its 6th UEFA Women Champions League Champions title last Saturday, the fourth in a row. It also won its eighth French Cup and its thirteenth consecutive national champions title, winning an historic triple crown at the end of 2018-2019 season.
Mastercard becomes one of Olympique Lyonnais Women’s Team’s principal sponsors, from next season the 2019-2020 season. Mastercard is also using layer power to promote its message, signing brand ambassador deals with Olympique Lyonnais players Ada Hegerberg, the first woman to receive a Ballon d’Or, Wendie Renard, Olympique Lyonnais’ captain and former France national team captain, Kadeisha Buchanan, captain of the Canadian national team, and Saki Kumagai, captain of the Japan national team.
“This partnership around the Women’s team reflects one of the world’s leader in payment systems sector’ confidence in the Olympique Lyonnais’ strategy and our ambition to achieve parity and balance in football. This is part of our club’s DNA. We are truly honoured to have the support of major companies which share and live for these values and commit to them in the long-term. It is a massive recognition for our sports and for the track record our team has built,” said Thierry Sauvage, Olympique Lyonnais Managing Director.
Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer, Mastercard, added: “By investing significantly in women’s football, as a professional and influential sport, we have an opportunity to directly impact the lives of athletes and help build sustainable programs to which girls and women around the world can aspire.”
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