Turkish Airlines and Honda to sponsor Indy Eleven’s kits

Turkish Airlines to be Indy XI’s secondary shirt sponsor. Credit: Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines (TA) happens to be this author’s favorite international airline. Having flown TA back and forth from Chicago to Delhi, via Istanbul, I can tell you that its service is top-notch. But TA does not fly into Indianapolis. Yet, a source close to the deal confirms that Indy XI has signed a contract with TA to be a shirt sponsor. The deal is expected to be announced tomorrow and “Turkish Airlines” will be visible on the lower back of player jerseys. While attracting a sponsor of TA’s magnitude is a huge asset for the club, it wasn’t immediately clear as to what TA would be getting in return.

Certainly, the NASL’s national TV deal will bring eyes to the product. With various games visible on BeIN Sports, ESPN3, local affiliates, and incredibly Twitter, TA’s name will be visible to soccer fans across the nation. That is one plausible reason for this deal.

Currently, TA flies into nine cities in the United States – Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington DC and Miami. Out of those, SF, NY and Miami have active NASL teams. And, based on reports from Chris Kivlehan and Soc Takes, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta could be homes to future NASL franchises.

Therefore, currently three, and potentially six, NASL cities are destinations for TA. While that is smart branding, it doesn’t address the obvious follow up question – why didn’t TA just sponsor one of those six teams directly? Soc Takes understands that Ozdemir’s business and personal connections within Turkey helped initiate, catalyze and secure this exciting deal.

Indianapolis is home to a strong Turkish population, many of whom immigrated in the 1990s (see page 59), and have helped form the American Turkish Association of Indiana.

Honda will continue as the primary shirt sponsor, and has signed a multi-year deal with the club. Also, Don Smart is bae. Credit: Indy XI/NASL .

Soc Takes understands that Honda has signed off on a multi-year partnership as the primary shirt sponsor, and that Honda, TA and Community Health are the three biggest sponsorship deals for Indy XI this year. A source close to the deal informed Soc Takes that Honda’s partnership “is the biggest” of the three, in terms of annual monetary value. The exact fiscal details of the contract are unknown. Honda will still be displayed on the front of the new jersey, as it has been from the start of Indy’s journey in the NASL.

TA will be the “Official International Airline of Indy XI”, and part of the contract includes the potential for the team to travel to Turkey for a friendly and/or a training visit. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first time TA will sponsor a soccer team in the US. TA’s previous deals include storied clubs such as Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille and AS Roma. That illustrious list definitely places the optics of the deal in perspective. And, highlights the drawing power of Indy XI as a commercial business partner.

Honda’s multi-year deal is significant both fiscally and symbolically. It shows that in spite of the off-season NASL shenanigans, Indy XI has the negotiating power to convince a major brand of the club’s own stability and marketability.

As for the kit manufacturer, Soc Takes understands that Indy XI will start the new season in last year’s Diadora kits.

However, Soc Takes can confirm that the team has a deal in place with a new kit manufacturer. An announcement will be made by the club in “mid-April” (per source) revealing the identity of the same (and, it’s a good one). At that point, the team will switch over to the new kits. Meanwhile, if you love the current Diadora jerseys, they are on sale at the Indy Eleven online store. 

Here’s Don Smart looking all bae-like in Diadora gear.

After the madness of the off-season, and equivocal reactions to a handful of player signings, Indy XI fans truly do have something to be proud of. A significant, albeit surprising, shirt sponsor in Turkish Airlines.

This author will certainly be wearing his Indy XI gear on his next flight home on Turkish Air. This author also accepts that the reaction at Ataturk airport is likely to be “What’s an Indy XI?”

You can follow SocTakes and Nipun at @SocTakes and @NipunChopra7 on twitter.