You may have heard rumors that General Motors (GM), the company that oversees the Chevrolet brand, decided not to sign up for Super Bowl advertising this year due to rising costs. You may not have heard, however, that the brand has traded those marketing initiatives to focus on the other kind of different kind of football game. Chevy has officially agreed to be the automotive sponsor of Manchester United, the popular British football (er, soccer) team.

Recently, Chevrolet has made huge investments in expanding its global appeal, and this recent move is sure to give the brand the exposure it desires. As Joel Ewanick, Global Marketing Chief for GM, states, "Everywhere I travel in the world, I run into Volkswagen or Hyundai or Toyota, who are doing this very, very well. It's not a big secret. I think others will tell you that we don't go a great job marketing internationally."¹

The contract with Manchester United extends five years and will help build brand awareness worldwide, though currently the statistics aren't unimpressive as far as the brand's image is concerned. Currently, six out of every 10 Chevrolet vehicles are sold outside of the U.S.

Chevrolet certainly picked a great team to partner with. Manchester United is one of the most popular (if not the most popular) sports team in the world, and its fan base has almost doubled in the past five years to equal more than 659 million people.

Be sure to stay tuned here with Bayside Chevrolet, conveniently located at 1200 Solomons Island Road Prince Frederick, MD 20678, a Chevrolet dealership serving the greater Washington D.C. area,  for more updates about your favorite U.S. auto brand, and don't forget to look into our impressive selection of new Chevy vehicles!