As Bimbo Bakeries moves its U.S. HQ out of the Philly area, the Union’s jersey sponsorship isn’t affected yet
The baked goods conglomerate has been the Union’s main jersey sponsor since 2011, the second year of the team’s existence. As of right now, that isn't changing, according to club officials.
When Bimbo Bakeries announced last week that it’s moving its U.S. headquarters out of Horsham after 17 years, the impact wasn’t just felt in the region’s northern suburbs. It was felt down south in Chester, too.
The baked goods conglomerate has been the Union’s main jersey sponsor since 2011, the second year of the team’s existence. The two entities are now in their fourth sponsorship deal over that time, with the current edition signed in early 2023 and running through 2028.
It’s been controversial over the years because of the English connotation of “bimbo,” even though the company has nothing to do with that. Bimbo has sponsored a lot of soccer teams’ jerseys, most famously Mexico’s Club América, Chivas Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Other notable clubs with deals have included Costa Rica’s Saprissa and the women’s team of Spain’s Barcelona, a global superpower.
Still, the stigma stuck around here for a while. It only started fading when Bimbo agreed to put some of its other brand names on the Union’s secondary jerseys, such as Artesano bread and Thomas’ English muffins.
Add all that up and it wasn’t surprising that Bimbo’s news sparked interest from Union fans. Would it affect the jersey deal, and perhaps send the team looking for a new main sponsor?
For now, the answer is not yet.
» READ MORE: Bimbo Bakeries is moving its headquarters out of the Philadelphia region
“We approach all of our partnerships by staying focused on delivering in the present and evolving over time, while also maintaining a long-term perspective,” a Union spokesperson told The Inquirer. “With significant time remaining, our emphasis is on continuing to execute and build with Bimbo.”
When Bimbo announced the news, a company spokesperson told the Philadelphia Business Journal that the move “does not change our current relationship with the Philadelphia Union.” And while the headquarters is leaving the region, the company will keep a large sales and distribution facility in Conshohocken that opened in 2021. There are also eight bakeries across the state.
A spokesperson told The Inquirer last week that Bimbo “will still maintain a strong presence in the Philadelphia region.”
The Union’s spokesperson signaled that there haven’t been discussions about what will happen after 2028, saying that “while our conversations right now are centered on the day-to-day, activating the partnership and maximizing what we’re doing together this season, we continue to evaluate and build on the strong foundation we’ve developed together.”
But there’s going to have to be a decision at some point, and there will be more than just the usual factors. The Bimbo deal is set to end at the end of 2028, but Major League Soccer’s change to a fall-to-spring schedule means that will land in the middle of the 2028-29 season.
Will that change when the jersey sponsorship ends?
“With the shift in the schedule, that dynamic applies broadly across partnerships,” the Union spokesperson said. “So it’s something we’re working through collectively with all our partners now, including Bimbo.”
