Benfica appoints WME Sports to secure naming rights partners for club's stadium and academy

Portuguese Club Sport Lisboa e Benfica has agreed an exclusive commercial partnership with WME Sports, the sports representation arm of the Endeavor-owned WME agency. As part of the global agreement, WME Sports will lead the search for naming rights partners for the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Benfica Youth Academy and provide valuation, data and insights powered by Endeavor Analytics. 

The Benfica Stadium, which has a capacity of 65,000, has hosted the 2004 UEFA European Championship Final, 2014 UEFA Champions League Final and 2020 UEFA Champions League Final Four Tournament, among many other international concerts and events. The state-of-the-art Benfica Youth Academy, known as ‘Benfica Campus,’ has nurtured several players who are currently shining in Europe’s top clubs. It won the prize for Best Academy of the Year at the 2015 and 2019 Globe Soccer Awards. 

Speaking about the partnership, Benfica CEO Domingos Soares de Oliveira said, “I am very happy to be working with the prestigious WME Sports agency, which will bring an unrivalled network of global sponsors to the table. We can’t wait to start collaborating with them to find the right partners for our two most prized assets, the stadium and the academy. This is part of our strategy to continue to position Benfica as a truly international club with a global reach, ensuring that we maximise our brand potential.”  

Karen Brodkin, Co-Head of WME Sports and EVP of Content Strategy and Development at Endeavor, added, “We are excited to be partnering with Benfica and representing two of European football’s most unique assets. The club’s iconic ‘Stadium of Light’ and award-winning, star-producing academy provide an opportunity for brands to not only connect with millions of football fans around the world, but also the six million tourists visiting Portugal’s vibrant capital city each year. We’re looking forward to utilising our international sports property sales expertise and a collaborative, data-driven approach to find the right strategic partners for these prestigious global properties.”

WME Sports works closely with Endeavor’s network of businesses, including IMG, a global leader in sports, events, fashion and media, and Endeavor Analytics, which provides actionable consumer, marketplace and media intelligence to leading brands, leagues and teams.