AFL kicking goals as Toyota signs record $18.5m annual sponsorship deal

The AFL has signed the largest sports sponsorship deal in Australian corporate history with major partner Toyota.

The AFL has lept ahead of other Australian sports with a massive sponsorship deal. Picture: AAP

The AFL has signed the largest sports sponsorship deal in Australian corporate history, convincing major partner Toyota to shell out $18.5 million annually until 2023.

Toyota’s new deal beats the $16m the car manufacturer has been paying the league since 2015, and once again takes the AFL past Tennis Australia in terms of having the biggest sporting sponsorship in the country.

Korean carmaker Kia’s latest deal for the naming rights to the Australian Open is for slightly more than $16m per year, as part of a contact signed last year, while Tennis Australia clinched an associate sponsorship deal with Chinese premium liquor company Luzhou Laojiao in January at a similar level.

By the end of its new contract, Toyota will have been the AFL’s biggest sponsor for 20 years, and its new deal includes new properties to add to its existing naming rights partnership with the league.

AFL general manager commercial, Kylie Rogers, told The Australian the deal was “pleasing considering the environment we are operating in” and that “it is getting harder and harder to retain partners”.

The NRL, which began its 2019 season on Thursday night, had a horror off-season plagued by player misdemeanours that have cost several of its clubs potential sponsorship deals and put pressure on the league to retain some sponsors whose contracts expired last year.

“Toyota is better off with us, and the AFL is better off with Toyota,” Ms Rogers said.

“But there is increasing pressure on businesses or [chief marketing officers] to justify partnerships.

“But these deals are not just about brand exposure any more — there is a very particular focus on outcomes for the companies.”

Toyota’s new sponsorship also means it becomes the league’s official community partner for the first time.

That includes naming rights partner for the AFL’s national volunteer awards, its national inclusion carnival for athletes with intellectual disabilities, the secondary North East Australian Football League, which encompasses NSW, the ACT, Queensland and Northern Territory, and the AFL’s national wheelchair championships.

The carmaker also becomes the official automotive partner of the women’s AFLW competition.

“Toyota supporting the AFLW competition further establishes its place in the national sporting landscape,” AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said.

Toyota’s chief marketing officer Wayne Gabriel said a vital part of Toyota’s ongoing sponsorship of the AFL was the Good for Footy program, which focuses on the grassroots community clubs.

“As the official Good for Footy Community Partner, we’re aiming to raise a further $1 million in 2019 to help more than 1000 local, grassroots Australian football clubs with better facilities and equipment,” he said.

The program has already raised $5m for local clubs.

Ms Rogers said the AFL had 43 commercial partners, with several deals up for renewal later this year.

She said she was confident the contracts would be extended.

However, she would not comment when asked how the AFL’s reputation with corporate Australia compared with that of sporting rivals such as rugby league. The AFL’s revenue from commercial operations, including sponsorship deals and corporate hospitality and ticket sales, topped the $200m mark for the first time in 2018, according to the league’s latest financial report.

The $209m figure contributed to a record $668m revenue for the league, though the AFL’s overall income was $778m, including Marvel Stadium.

Non-broadcast revenue for the NRL last year was $178m.