from the mythical Tau to Kakaolat passing through Interviu | Relief

Unicaja, Perfumerías Avenida and ElPozo Murcia not only combine high positions in their leagues. They also put companies at the top of the sport. It is advertising that in some cases absorbs the real name of the club., either because it is owned or because of how well the sponsorship works. The history of many Spanish teams is also the history of the brands that have achieved glory with them.

Remembering the exploits of Likor 43 in basketball, Pinturas Lepanto in futsal or Pilotes Posada in handball, More than remembering the team: it remembers its best era. When we remove the marks from the original names, we are left with Gramenet, Sego Zaragoza and Sociedad Deportiva Octavio. When these teams suffered disappointment, relegation or extinction, they no longer carried that advertising in their names.

Savings banks that no longer exist, local businesses that have reached their golden moment, and even alcoholic beverages., among others, map the clubs that marked an era in the leagues of basketball, handball, futsal or volleyball. Some of these teams continue to exist under a different name or brand, others have disappeared, but many remain in the collective memory.

Basketball boom full of brands

The 80s were the decade of basketball. The birth of the ACB and the Olympic success of the men’s team increased the popularity of the sport, which became widespread throughout almost all of Spain. And it was a great opportunity for brands. From now on they Cacaolat Granollers, Cajaronda, Cajamadrid, CajaCanarias or Negrita Rum from Joventut.

The Badalona team has several well-known sponsors: RAM, 7Up (with whom he won the European Cup in 1994) or DKV., with whom he worked for ten years (2001-2011), here are some of them. Something similar happens with Estudiantes when it is sponsored Caja Postal (and later Argentaria) or Adecco.

The brand association with basketball remains very strong. Of 18 teams current ACB (which is called Liga Endesa), 12 include the brand in their name. The six that don’t are Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia Basket, Baskonia, Joventut de Badalona and Basque Girona.

All of them, with the exception of Basque Girona, had a sponsor at some point. In addition to Joventut’s examples, Valencia stands apart, being known as Pamesa Valencia for most of its history.. Baskonia also added several sponsors to its name (Caja Álava, Laboral Kutxa…), but none of them were like ceramic company Taulell, which gives the team its name thanks to its brands Taugrés or TAU Cerámica. (try searching Google for “taugres” and see the result). Most basketball fans remember Marcus Brown yelling “See you at TAU” to Igor Rakocevic after Unicaja’s loss to Baskonia.

Such sponsorships began in the 1980s, but are more associated with the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. The TDK Manresa company was also associated in the 90s., one of the best stories of Spanish basketball. Their triumphs in the 1996 Copa del Rey and 1998 ACB are associated with the name of the Japanese multinational corporation.

The club’s relegation also brought an end to sponsorship. ““Binding the concept of success” is what brands crave– explain Professor José Antonio Martínez and Professor Manuel Ruiz, academic experts on sports sponsorship at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena. “When two brands come together, such as a basketball club and a sponsor, the associations of both brands should be shared.”

Sororities are also associated with various brands. It is impossible to understand the three European champions that Spain has without their sponsors.: Dorna Godella (yes, the same company that owns MotoGP), champion in 1992 and 1993; Perfumerías Avenida, champion 2011; and Ros Casares, 2012 champion.

Chocolate brand, European champion

Pilotes Posada and Frigoríficos del Morrazo were local brands that became known throughout Spain thanks to their handball teams. “Prominence and positioning” are the short- and medium-term goals of brands for scientists.. “Impact on sales and profits” is what they expect next.

In return, clubs expect “economic stability.”, according to Martinez and Ruiz, and even “a strategic alliance that could improve their commercial activities.” Clubs such as Teka Sports Group, founded in 1975 and one of the winners of the European Cup, were born directly with the name and support of a great brand, after the merger of several teams.

Another team to win the European Cup was Elgorriaga Bidasoa in 94/95, and thanks to this, the world made Irun and the aforementioned chocolate brand famous.. It was a triumph not only for the team and the brand, but also for the region, which experienced one of the greatest milestones in Basque sport. When we talk about sports in a place, we talk about its society and its institutions, but here are other interests behind it, according to scientists: “A sponsor seeks the favor of public administrations, as when a company sponsors a city club, and this opens doors to establish better connections with the rulers of this city.”

Another European handball champion cannot be understood without the sponsor of his best era: Portland San Antonio.. The brand of cement named by the club has crossed the borders of Spain both in handball and in its multinational business. Naturhouse La Rioja, Cadagua Gáldar, Caja España Ademar Leon or Elche Mustang also remain in the memory of fans of this sport.

Double sponsorship and the revival of names in futsal

“Let no club employee say anything bad about the sponsor” This is another political gain that the company is seeking, Martinez and Ruiz explain. These university professors argue that “all of these lesser-known and more hidden aspects of sponsorship are often seen in the world of sports, but little commented on.”

Teams such as the current LNFS Inter, now wearing Movistar, are well aware of this type of relationship. Over its history, it has tried on, among others, media outlets, department stores and telecommunications companies. Although If a brand stands out in its history, it is Interviú magazine.which remained for over three decades, although no longer the club’s sponsor.. He did this alone and accompanied by other brands such as Lloyd’s, Boomerang, Airtel, Antena3 or Fadesa. All of them bore the name of the club owned by Jose Maria Garcia.

Sometimes there are so many memories behind a brand name that it comes up again. Bisontes Castellón will again become Playas de Castellón from the current season until 2027.. It is not only his sponsorship that is memorable, but also the club’s golden era, whose achievements under that name included three European Cups and two leagues. In those years, one of its great rivals, until it disappeared, was CLM Talavera, another of the teams that had previously enjoyed other memorable sponsorship deals: first with Caja Toledo and then with Caja Castilla-La Mancha, thanks to a bank merger. Caja Segovia, Maspalomas Sol de Europa, Fiat Carnicer are other classic sponsors of Spanish futsal.