Sports partnership marketing is expensive and notoriously hard to prove. Volkswagen of America is still doubling down. The automaker extended its presenting partnership with U.S. Soccer through 2032 with a larger marketing investment, and CMO Rachael Zaluzec told Marketing Dive at Advertising Week New York that emotional connections planted now “will not only pay off today, but it's going to pay off in the future.”
The extension keeps all 27 U.S. Soccer National Teams and adds a sponsorship of the federation’s new flagship training center in Atlanta, plus more youth-access programming. Volkswagen is also adding individual ambassadors, including U.S. Women's National Team coach Emma Hayes and center back Naomi Girma.
Volkswagen has backed U.S. Soccer since 2019 and supports the whole federation, including the Deaf, Powerchair and Beach Soccer teams. Zaluzec calls the brand an early adopter rather than a bandwagon sponsor, and she is already looking ahead to next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Zaluzec’s filter for any cultural partnership is whether it is credible. Volkswagen is a challenger brand in the U.S.; soccer is a challenger sport. One is about democratizing mobility, the other about letting everybody play. “If Volkswagen did American football, everybody would go, ‘Huh?’” she said.
What changed since 2019 is how much of the work runs through the athletes themselves. Many players on the women’s team are moms, which maps directly to Volkswagen’s target customer. Those stories feel more authentic coming from the athletes’ own social handles than from a big linear campaign.
Linear isn’t going away. Cars are an emotional, intentional purchase, and Zaluzec says you still have to be seen to earn mental availability. Credibility and emotional connection, however, are built in the newer channels.
Volkswagen is also partnering with NBCUniversal on NBC’s centennial with Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch, plus moments like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, after showcasing the ID. Buzz in an SNL 50th anniversary sketch. The rule: the formula can’t be rinse and repeat.
Its Super Bowl spot this year revived “Drivers Wanted” after 20 years, with social teasers and an Emma Chamberlain podcast tie-in. Chamberlain has a GTI tattoo honoring drives with her father. Even so, Zaluzec has no Super Bowl plans for next year: “You only go if you have something really relevant to say.”
Big events attract crowds of sponsors. Check that your brand’s position and the partner’s position tell the same story. For another brand that filters partnerships on principle rather than data, see How Poppi Keeps Its Cultural Marketing Fizz Without Over-Relying on Data.
The Super Bowl pays off when there’s a launch or a brand-defining message behind it. Compare Ferrero’s approach in Nutella Makes Its First Super Bowl Ad as Ferrero Commits $50M+.
With tariffs, the economy and technology shifts pushing auto marketing toward price points, Volkswagen is betting on moments that matter. Discount messages fade when markets recover; emotional connection carries into the next cycle.
Since 2019. The new extension runs through 2032 and adds the Atlanta training center and more youth programming.
Its CMO sees a credible fit between a challenger brand and a challenger sport that both aim to make something accessible to everyone.
Not for now. Zaluzec says the Super Bowl is an investment that needs a purpose, and she doesn’t yet have a message big enough to require it.
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