NEW YORK & MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Netspend and Leagues Cup announced today a multi-year partnership that makes Netspend the official Debit, Prepaid Cards and Remittance Partner of Leagues Cup – the official Concacaf competition featuring every team from Major League Soccer (MLS) and LIGA MX.
A financial services innovator with a pioneering history in prepaid and debit products, Netspend will collaborate with Leagues Cup on a series of activations to illustrate its commitment to providing new levels of financial access and empowerment to a growing population of young, digitally-savvy North American soccer fans and consumers, especially those who are connected by family and culture, both in the U.S. and Mexico. As an official sponsor, Netspend extends its footprint within the global game of soccer through Leagues Cup.
In a new milestone in the history of North American soccer, Leagues Cup is a World Cup-style club tournament in which all 47 MLS and LIGA MX clubs will pause their respective league seasons and compete between July 21 to August 19.
“Both Leagues Cup and Netspend are starting new chapters to stay ahead of the changing state of play in the global game of soccer and in financial services, so it’s a fitting and timely partnership,” said Bertrand Sosa, Netspend’s co-founder and president. “It’s a great opportunity to connect with lifelong MLS and LIGA MX fans who are looking for more relevant payment products that fit their lifestyle and cultural needs on both sides of the border.”
As the official Debit, Prepaid Cards and Remittance Partner of Leagues Cup, Netspend will introduce Leagues Cup fans to innovative financial products and services through an experiential marketing campaign during Leagues Cup games taking place in MLS stadiums across North America. As part of the campaign, Netspend will create opportunities for soccer fans to participate in one-of-a-kind gametime experiences that feature on-site activations, players meet-and-greets, premium seating, sweepstakes, and more.
"It is our privilege to officially announce Netspend as the latest official partner of Leagues Cup, an unprecedented event in the history of soccer,” said Carter Ladd, EVP of Soccer United Marketing (SUM). “We are thrilled to partner with a company like Netspend that shares our commitment to being a strong positive force for change in our communities and to serve as the official Debit, Prepaid Cards and Remittance multi-year partner of this highly anticipated tournament.”
Leagues Cup is part of the evolution of the successful partnership between MLS and LIGA MX that launched in 2018, and which also includes Campeones Cup, the annual matchup between league champions. The partnership is rooted in on-field rivalry but connected by a true spirit of collaboration off the field, with a focus on sharing best practices, growing the beautiful game in North America, and being a force for positive change in the communities of both leagues.
Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the commercial arm of MLS, supported Leagues Cup and tournament organizers in the delivery of this important partnership.
Ticket Information
Tickets for all matches are available on LeaguesCup.com and are also available to fans via the hosting MLS club. MLS club season ticket holders should contact their club representative for more information or visit LeaguesCup.com and follow @LeaguesCup on social.
Media Assets
Click here for Leagues Cup 2023 assets. To watch the Leagues Cup explainer video, click here.
ABOUT Netspend
Netspend, founded by prepaid industry pioneers Roy and Bertrand Sosa, is dedicated to delivering financial empowerment to millions of Americans, leveraging a proprietary payments technology platform that fuels its fintech product innovations. From prepaid, credit and debit account solutions, to digital account and money movement services, Netspend has a broad suite of products and technologies that deliver exceptional experiences for its customers and business partners across co-branded, white label and banking-as-a service verticals. Since its founding in 1999, Netspend products have helped millions of consumers nationwide, and processed billions of dollars in transaction volume. Consumers can reload and find Netspend Prepaid Cards at convenient locations nationwide through Netspend’s extensive network of 130,000 reload points and more than 100,000 distributing locations and employers, including check cashers, convenience stores, grocers, pharmacies, insurance providers and tax preparers. Headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit Netspend.com and follow Netspend on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
ABOUT LEAGUES CUP
Leagues Cup represents a monumental new chapter for North American soccer. Beginning in 2023, Major League Soccer and LIGA MX will pause their seasons each summer and all 47 first division professional soccer clubs in the U.S., Mexico and Canada will compete in a World Cup-style tournament, which will qualify the top three finishers on to the Concacaf Champions Cup. Leagues Cup 2023 will kick off Friday, July 21 and will feature 77 games hosted at stadiums throughout the U.S. and Canada, with the Final taking place on Saturday, August 19. Fans in over 100 countries and regions will be able to watch Leagues Cup on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, which is available on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices from Roku, Amazon, and Google, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. In addition, TelevisaUnivision, FOX Sports, TSN and RDS will be the linear broadcast home for select Leagues Cup matches in the United States and Canada.
ABOUT SOCCER UNITED MARKETING
Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the commercial arm of Major League Soccer, is the preeminent commercial soccer enterprise in North America, overseeing the commercialization, marketing, promotion, and operational execution of the region’s most successful soccer entities. SUM holds the exclusive rights to Major League Soccer, the Mexican National Teams for the U.S. market (MexTour and MexTour W), Leagues Cup, Campeones Cup, Copa Angelina and Concacaf Properties (including Concacaf Gold Cup™, Concacaf Nations League Finals, Concacaf Champions Cup and Concacaf W). In addition, SUM held the promotional and commercial rights to the highly successful 2016 Copa America Centenario.
