Visa, the global payments giant, will end its long-standing partnership with American football’s elite NFL after 30 years, but won't exit the league entirely as it refines its sponsorship strategy ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games (LA28).
Speaking to news agency Reuters, Visa chief marketing officer Frank Cooper confirmed that the long-running partnership, which began in 1995, would not be renewed upon its March 2026 expiry date, with the firm instead opting to refocus its efforts on individual partnerships with teams, players, and content creators.
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Cooper specifically pointed to a pending renewal with the San Francisco 49ers, one of eight teams the firm has been a partner of for the past number of years, as an example of the deals it will look to do going forward, adding that an expansion of the number of partnered teams is also a goal.
He said: “We intend to continue to invest in the NFL significantly, probably more than we did before, but it will look different.
“We love the NFL… but we decided there was a better way for Visa beyond acquiring the NFL league rights,” he continued, referencing the high cost of league-wide sponsorship.
Over the coming three years, Visa is set to sponsor the 2026 FIFA World Cup, – which will take place across the US, Mexico, and Canada – the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil), and the LA28 games, giving it coverage of three of the world’s biggest tentpole sporting events, coverage that will come at a significant financial cost, but also with significant visibility.
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By GlobalDataIn terms of replacing Visa, it has been reported that rival credit card heavyweight American Express could be set to take over the coveted sponsorship slot for as much as $910 million over a seven-year term ($130 million per year).
Despite Visa publicly signalling its intention to divest from the top-line coverage of the NFL, the league’s momentum through the 2025 season will likely ease the task of securing a replacement.
In week 2 of the NFL, for example, the Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles matchup on the Fox network drew a record-breaking audience.
The September 14 game, a rematch of the most recent Super Bowl championship game (Super Bowl LX), saw the Eagles defeat the Chiefs 20-17, with an average viewership of 33.8 million on the Fox Sports channel.
That figure means that the game is the most-watched week 2 NFL fixture in history, overtaking the 28 million average that the Chiefs drew against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024.
The match was also a regular-season record for Fox, and the joint most-watched NFL regular-season game ever (tied with Patriots vs Colts on CBS in 2007), when excluding Thanksgiving Day games and Monday Night fixtures.
