Hyundai Motor, which suffered sluggish sales in the U.S. market in recent days, has become an official sponsor of the National Football League, one of the most popular sports in America.
According to industry sources on June 29, Hyundai Motor will replace General Motors as the NFL’s official auto sponsor over the next four years. Under the terms of the sponsorship deal, Hyundai Motor will likely to pay more than $25 million (28.1 billion won) per year.
Some U.S. media outlets reported that the sponsorship deal would require Hyundai Motor to pay about $50 million a year. Hyundai Motor denied such reports, saying, “Our payment is close to what GM has spent. We simply added the inflation rate to what GM paid.”
As of May 2015, Hyundai Motor had a share of 4.3 percent in the U.S. car market, down 0.1 percentage point from a year ago. Hyundai Motor’s sister company Kia Motors presently sponsors the National Basketball Association.
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