The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team fell short of its goal to become the first country in the history of the World Cup to win three times in a row.
America still paid close attention to the USWNT despite their subpar play as they ruled television screens across the country throughout their four games.
But while most viewers celebrated goals by jumping up and down or running around their homes, there were several thousand who delayed their celebrations for a few seconds, staring at their phones waiting for a tweet from the USWNT X account.
All so they could get free Chipotle.
⚽️ + 🥅 = 🌯
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 20, 2023
When the #USWNT scores, you could win a free entrée from @ChipotleTweets!
Full terms » https://t.co/pai84rJL4G pic.twitter.com/zUcf0di2ZB
Yup. Some soccer fans focused intensely on snagging a free $10 meal.
Chipotle (CMG) -) is a partner of the U.S. Soccer Federation -- one of its promotions awarded a free entrée for every goal scored by the USWNT to the first 2,500 people who text them back a code.
Still driven. Always teaming up with @ChipotleTweets pic.twitter.com/kLE9gUH5Oa
— Sophia Smith (@sophsssmith) July 12, 2023
The text-based promotion is one of several ways Chipotle has leveraged sports to boost its brand identity and drive consumers into its stores. Aside from the USSF, Chipotle has a partnership with MoneyGram Haas Formula 1 Team, a major deal with the National Hockey League, a longstanding partnership with USA Hockey, deals with NFL and NBA stars like Justin Fields and Trae Young, and also has a presence in gaming and major esports competitions.
Most of Chipotle’s sports partnerships have come over the last five years, coinciding with new leadership, including CEO Brian Niccol and chief marketing officer Chris Brandt.
Jim Sanderson, an equity research analyst at Northcoast Research, credits the “remarkable” operational improvements made by the new leadership and its integration of the digital experience -- like leveraging online orders through its app -- as the reason why Chipotle is expected to double its sales this year versus 2017, the year before the leadership changes.
But the leadership changes were triggered by a food safety issue dating back to 2015 that rocked the company. Beyond operational changes, it has needed to regain the trust of its customers as well.
Brandt spoke to TheStreet about how sports has been one of its pillars in delivering that message and helping drive Chipotle’s “meteoric rise.”
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Why Chipotle chose to invest in sports
Chipotle’s target market is people in their 20s, according to Brandt. He said this group “defines what’s cool in culture,” and the company identified sports as one way to be culturally relevant.
Brandt said they’ve also found that there’s a real love for Chipotle among many athletes -- even those who aren’t sponsored -- and that allows them to maintain a sense of authenticity.
“We very much want to be a part of the fabric of sports because it's part of being the fabric of culture,” Brandt told TheStreet. “We're trying to do things that feel very organic.”
Whenever the company meets with endorsers, they ask what their Chipotle order is. When Brandt asked this question to ESPN analyst and former NBA player Richard Jefferson for a TikTok sponsored post, Jefferson responded by saying that he has different orders for different periods in his life -- whether it’s bulking up or cutting down, or whether it’s in-season or off-season.
@richardajefferson Storytime: @Chipotle Edition. Since I linked up with Chipotle on this one, burrito bowls are on me… The first 5,000 people to use code RICHARD in the Chipotle app or online can get a BOGO for their go-to order or a Lifestyle Bowl. 5,000 BOGO codes avail. 1/transact. Codes exp 1/20. US & CAN only. Rules: chipotle.com/makeityourown
♬ original sound - Rizzard Jefferson
Chipotle has boosted brand identity by integrating itself as part of the meal plans of athletes, but Brandt admits that these partnerships don’t “break the bank” compared to long-term deals with big leagues like the NBA and NFL.
“It's kind of prohibitive for us to necessarily have a sponsorship relationship because they want so much money,” Brandt said. “But we can feel a part of all those things because we have athletes in those sports that certainly use us.”
Authenticity has sparked the company’s lead sports campaign “Real Food for Real Athletes.” The campaign focuses on Chipotle’s ingredients as fuel for some of the world’s best athletes, including soccer stars Julie Ertz and Christian Pulisic.
“Athletes need to fuel themselves with proper nutrition and real food. Right here you can see the overlap and the synergy that makes sense,” David Wright, chief commercial officer of the USSF, told TheStreet.
Chipotle’s healthy food-focus with its sports campaign alongside improved health operations has helped curb negative effects after the foodborne illness issue that sickened over 1,000 people from 2015 to 2018. The company paid a fine of $25 million in 2020 and was forced to follow a comprehensive food safety program by the FDA.
“I think they were able to resolve some of the operational issues through better training, better oversight,” said analyst Sanderson.
Chipotle’s been able to focus more on growth, including internationally, where its sports strategy has become a brand awareness tool through its latest partnership in Formula 1.
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Chipotle’s new partnership with Formula 1
Formula 1 is becoming one of the most relevant sports in culture. The Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive To Survive” has fueled massive U.S. interest in the sport. Viewership for the motorsport series has increased slightly in 2023 despite the lack of parity in the actual results, and the ratings were already up 28% last year vs. 2021.
Interest in the U.S. has spiked so quickly that the country now hosts three races after F1 added the Miami Grand Prix and Las Vegas Grand Prix to the race calendar over the last two years. But it was in the 2022 US Grand Prix in Austin when Brandt decided he wanted “a piece” of the F1 success.
Chipotle had partnered with sports marketing agency rEvolution on several occasions, and their CEO John Rowady had past experience working on the media rights side with properties like F1. Rowady told TheStreet that he invited Brandt to the Austin race.
“In motorsports, you need to go put your feet on the track and meet people because that's where the racing is,” said Rowady.
Brandt said being in the F1 paddock helped him recognize just how “cool” the sport was becoming -- both in America and globally. And he saw how an F1 partnership would open the floodgates to global brand awareness.
A lion’s share of F1’s races are in Europe -- where Chipotle has just 30 locations -- while it also has several races in South America and the APAC region. Chipotle does not have branches outside of North America and Europe, but an F1 partnership gives them a head start in some markets.
“We could think about it from an international exposure standpoint that when it comes time for us to go to the Middle East or some other place: ‘Oh yeah, Chipotle was with Formula 1, I remember them,’” Brandt said.
Sanderson says he thinks it’s a “smart” strategy because it’s important to build brand awareness “in advance of building the infrastructure to operate.”
“That says to me they're really thoughtfully pursuing potentially franchised relationships, not only in the Middle East, potentially in South Asia, maybe in Southeast Asia and China, which I think would be an incredible opportunity,” Sanderson said.
In partnering with an F1 team, Chipotle had a few non-negotiables, including having their brand logo plastered in a visible spot on the car livery. They met with several teams, but Brandt admitted that the asking price of other teams was too high.
But Chipotle found MoneyGram Haas F1 and their charismatic team principal Guenther Steiner, one of the most lovable characters in the F1 paddock, were the best match for its budget.
“Guenther was like, ‘I think you guys can do as much for us as we can do for you,'” Brandt said.
Haas, whose financial and sponsorship needs were a focal point of a few episodes of “Drive to Survive,” is currently tied for 7th out of 10 teams on the grid. But Brandt believes there’s value beyond team success in F1.
“We might have been priced out if we wanted to be with Red Bull or somebody else,” Brandt said. “It's okay to be with a team that isn't contending for the wins … You don’t need to be a winner in Formula One.”
Chipotle
Since Chipotle and Haas announced their partnership in February, they’ve had several activations outside of the logo placement on the side of the car’s livery, including when they posted a Haas F1 car at a Chipotle drive thru ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in May. Brandt said that was Chipotle’s “most liked and engaged Instagram post of all-time.”
Chipotle is expected to accelerate campaigns with two remaining U.S.-based races coming in October and November.
“We think Formula One is in the early stages, we don't see getting rid of any of these things,” Brandt said.
Chipotle sticking with sports
Chipotle is looking at continuing its partnerships with its current portfolio of leagues for a long while.
Its only partnership with a major sports league is with the NHL, which is more financially accessible than the NFL or NBA, but also stems from the foundation of a partnership with U.S. Hockey that started in 2018.
Those partnerships are expected to continue at least through 2023. Chipotle has activated a BOGO deal for wearing a hockey jersey at participating stores during the Stanley Cup playoffs. And one of its lead athlete endorsers for the “Real Food for Real Athletes” campaign is three-time Olympic gold medalist Hilary Knight.
“We like to be in partnerships for a long period of time,” Brandt said. “We don't want to be in, then we're out.”
Brandt said he’s hoping to stay partners with the USSF in the coming years. Soccer is expected to continue to grow in America, not only with the recent entry of Lionel Messi that has rejuvenated Major League Soccer, but also with the upcoming 2026 World Cup that will be hosted throughout North America in the states, Canada, and Mexico.
The U.S. is also eyeing hosting the Women’s World Cup alongside Mexico in 2027 or 2031, according to USSF's Wright, who said that “all eyes” are on soccer for the next few years.
Brandt also said the team is exploring new ways to engage at the Olympics, citing how the event is consumed differently from years past.
“When I was growing up, everybody watched the Olympics on regular TV,” Brandt said. “It’s harder today to be with what happens right in real time, so I think we'll have to figure out some different ways.”
