MSC Cruises has become the premier front-of-shirt partner of Napoli, Italian men’s soccer’s Serie A champions.
MSC Cruises steps up from its previous designation as the club’s secondary shirt sponsor, to fill a commercial slot left vacant by Italian water company Acqua Lete. That brand has now ended its commercial association with the Naples side after 18 years.
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The cruising company's logo will therefore move from the lower chest area to the upper chest of Napoli’s first-team shirts.
MSC Cruises first became a Napoli commercial partner in 2011.
In its partnership announcement, Napoli said the deal “will develop on both offline and online channels and will create a series of branded content in the coming weeks that will involve Napoli fans around the world.”
Aurelio de Laurentiis, president of Napoli, said: “MSC are the ideal partner to ferry Napoli between two eras. We started together in the summer of 2011 and now after so many years, our relationship reaches its culmination through the sharing of a manifesto that unites the city of Naples with the rest of the world. We look forward to starting this new journey together, with the hope that it will take both entities as far as possible in search of new triumphs.”
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By GlobalDataLeonardo Massa, MSC Cruises’ managing director, added: “I’m very happy to be here today to witness this partnership between MSC Cruises and Napoli, two entities that represent Italian and Neapolitan excellence in the world.”
In addition, Napoli has a new sleeve sponsor in eBay, which has also now become the club’s official e-commerce partner.
The club’s new 2023-24 kit is now on sale from the Napoli brand store on eBay. The brand's logo will be visible on the training kit as well as the official match day shirts.
Napoli won Serie A for the first time in 33 years last season.
Elsewhere in Serie A. automotive giants BMW have renewed their partnership with AC Milan.
BMW is staying on as one of the Milan club’s premium sponsors and as its automotive partner.
The initial partnership between the two parties was struck in 2021.
The club has said that in future years, the two brands will “keep working together in order to create a series of joint events and initiatives, the aim of which is to connect and excite sport, cars, sustainability, and lifestyle enthusiasts.”
Paolo Scaroni, president of AC Milan, said: “We're pleased to be able to continue the journey we've been on with an important partner in BMW, with which we share a vision, values, and a pioneering, future-orientated approach, which has driven innovation in both of our respective sectors in recent years. Furthermore, we are proud to be able to work with a partner that fully shares our commitment to social topics, which are central to our way of doing business.”
Massimiliano Di Silvestre, BMW Italia’s president and chief executive, added: “We're really proud of our partnership with AC Milan and this renewal is a natural consequence of all the hard work we've done together throughout the last two seasons.”
AC Milan’s premier partner and front-of-shirt sponsor is Emirates Airlines.
Last week, the club unveiled a new premium partnership with South Korean tire manufacturer Kumho Tyre.
Image: MB Media/Getty Images
