Sports Culture

Model Employees

An FC Bayern shirt reading 2029 Wonderful held up inside the Allianz Arena

AI money in team sports has grown roughly fivefold since 2024, per SponsorUnited, and in many of the deals the sponsor’s software now works inside the club. So what is any of it worth?

Gemini and Wonderful both hold Bayern Munich titles. Claude has one at Williams. Harvey works with the Warriors’ in-house lawyers. Copilot is on NFL sidelines. The titles AI companies are buying read like job descriptions: Williams’ “Official Thinking Partner,” Bayern’s “Official Enterprise AI Partner,” the Warriors’ “Official Legal AI Partner.”

AI brands have put more than $85 million into team and property sponsorships, up from $17 million in 2024, per SponsorUnited, which tracks sports deals. The firm counts 176 AI brands across 843 deals, up 92% in a year. Data management and IT services show up in 61% of those deals. SponsorUnited’s count covers the most recent completed season in 14 leagues, from the NFL to the Premier League, and leaves out league-wide deals. Formula 1 is a market of its own. In February, Ampere Analysis forecast that F1 sponsorship would top $3 billion for the first time in 2026, and counted eight partnerships with AI companies signed in the previous six months, including Groq, Meta AI and Claude.

FC Bayern Munich’s newest sponsor handles ticket problems. On September 9th the club named Wonderful its “Official Enterprise AI Partner” for three years, and said the first assignment is an AI agent for digital ticket support on matchday. At Williams, Anthropic’s Claude carries the title “Official Thinking Partner.” The team says Claude will work “alongside engineers and team strategists” across race strategy, car development and operations. CoreWeave, an AI cloud company, is moving Aston Martin’s on-premises computing to its own cloud, according to the team, and Aston Martin’s wind tunnel now carries the CoreWeave name.

Lawyers are a market too. Harvey signed the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries as their “Official Legal AI Partner” in May, and the teams’ “in-house legal teams will adopt Harvey to support legal workflows and operations,” Harvey said. In June, Chelsea named Legora, another legal AI company, an official partner, and said the club’s own legal team is “integrating Legora’s system through its workstreams.” In each case, the sponsor’s product goes to work inside the team.

Google has moved fastest. This summer Gemini signed on with Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Liverpool and Arsenal, on top of deals with the national teams of Argentina, France and Morocco and an extended McLaren partnership built around Gemini. SponsorUnited puts Gemini’s estimated spend above $20 million, the most of any AI brand. Bayern has now sold AI twice. Gemini became the club’s official “Consumer AI Partner” in August, and Wonderful its “Official Enterprise AI Partner” a month later. Microsoft has the widest reach. Its extended NFL deal brings Copilot “to the sidelines and beyond,” and SponsorUnited counts Copilot partnerships with 35 teams, including all 32 NFL clubs.

Price on Request

None of the teams or companies in the 30 deals I reviewed disclosed what they cost. When HUMAIN, an AI company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, became Al Nassr’s lead jersey sponsor in July, it “declined to comment on the financial details of the deal,” Semafor reported. What the clubs get is on the record: ticket support, race strategy, a cloud move, legal software. What it costs them, if anything, is the part nobody will price. Do the teams pay for the software, get it free, or have it counted against the sponsorship fee? I asked Anthropic, Google, Harvey, Wonderful and FC Bayern. This story will be updated with their answers.

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