Sponsors believe in Turkish footballers

Ceyhun Kuburlu ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

Turkey’s national football team inks deal with 16 sponsors for 50 million liras.

Turkey’s national football team might have failed to impress on the pitch since 2008, but it is scoring at will in the sponsorship side of the game, inking deals with 16 firms to bring 50 million Turkish Liras into the federation’s coffers.

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) had seen a four-year lull in terms of sponsorships, but hopes for a berth in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have led to a significant rise in the number of firms looking to business with the team.

The TFF recently signed a new sponsorship agreement with Opet before Turkish Airlines extended its sponsorship agreement until 2015 with a new deal on Sept. 3.

The national team will have nine main sponsors for the 2014 World Cup qualifying rounds and finals, should the team advance to Brazil. The sponsors will be from six different sectors and will provide 70 percent of the 50 million liras in revenues. The main sponsors are Nike, Efes, Turkcell, Coca-cola, TTNet, Mercedes-Benz, Garanti Bank, Ülker and Turkish Airlines.

There will also be seven main suppliers for the national team, providing technology, cargo, health, personal hygiene, textiles, beverages and fuel. Among the suppliers are Teknosa, Sürat Kargo, Arko, Acıbadem Hospitals, Sarar, Powerade and Opet. The TFF signed 13 different sponsorship agreements when the national team advanced all the way to the Euro 2008 semi-finals, but subsequent revenues remained stuck at 40 million liras.