Sporting Kansas City has agreed a five-year front-of-shirt sponsorship with investment management firm Ivy Funds, reports SportsPro. The Kansas-based firm will become the MLS club's first-ever shirt sponsor as well as the team's official investment management partner.
Though the financial terms were not announced, the deal is believed to be worth US$2.5 million annually.
"They offer us everything we wanted, with the key attribute being local," said Sporting Club chief executive Robb Heineman. "Local was always the thing that was going to be most important to us in a jersey sponsor and then innovation.
"Ivy Funds has proven that they're an innovator in their field. We wanted something that connected to our community in a large way and that's exactly what this relationship is going to allow us to do."
"Sporting Club is an exemplary franchise on and off the field, and we look forward to growing with them as soccer rapidly cements its place among professional sports in the United States, as it already has globally," said Thomas Butch, chief executive and president of Ivy Funds.
"With its visionary management, world-class venue and talented, accessible players and coaches, Sporting Kansas City provides a great partner to further extend the Ivy Funds brand throughout the United States and abroad. We look forward to a broad-based, constructive partnership."
