Philadelphia Union's Partnership With Bimbo About More Than Just a Name

Filed under: MLS, Philadelphia Union

The Sept. 1 friendly between the Philadelphia Union and Mexican power Chivas de Guadalajara at PPL park wasn't just your average American soccer marketing ploy.

It turns out the game was as much about fishing for dollars with the large logo on the front of the opponent's famous red-and-white jersey as it was about fishing for fans with the small badge toward the top.

That big logo, of course, reads "Bimbo." To Americans, it's an amusing and relatively misogynistic insult. But to everyone south of the 2-0 parallel, it's just a loaf of bread.

Soccer is the global game, and as such, it's played in many different languages. Sometimes certain subtleties can get lost in translation. On Tuesday, the Union announced an ambitious sponsorship deal that's going to test those boundaries. Bimbo, the baked good conglomerate pronounced "Beembo," will pay a reported $12 million over four years to be the Union's presenting/jersey sponsor.

Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz told FanHouse that the Chivas friendly "was somewhat tactical because we were in conversations with Bimbo at the time."

 

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