Bayern Munich and Adobe have decided to end their sponsorship agreement by mutual consent, just one year into a three-year contract that was supposed to run from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
The US software brand, best known for its PDF and Photoshop tools, was revealed as a sponsor of the German side last August, committing to support the club in its efforts to deepen its relationship with fans by creating personalised offers and experiences.
At the time the deal was announced, the club indicated the firm’s ‘Adobe Experience Cloud’, including Adobe’s customer data platform, would help it to create fan profiles to better understand how supporters engage with the club. It claimed the deal would allow Bayern fans to receive content on their preferred platform when goals are scored, as well as post-match video commentary and highlights.
The club also planned to use Adobe’s ‘Document Cloud’ software, including ‘Adobe Acrobat Sign’, to execute player agreements without them putting pen to paper.
It is customary for Adobe to begin a business relationship with a sports rights-holder before expanding this into a sponsorship agreement. However, SportBusiness Sponsorship understands the two parties realised the software solutions weren’t compatible with the club’s existing systems when they started to implement them. Sources say Bayern’s Platinum Partner-tier sponsorship agreement with German multinational software company SAP, extended just days after the Adobe agreement was announced, also provided obstacles to the new deal.
Despite the difficulties, relations are understood to remain cordial between the club and the US firm, and it’s thought the brand could still agree a deal in the future to sponsor Bayern Munich’s women’s team, FC Bayern Frauen.
Adobe has proven its appetite for women’s football rights already, having agreed a deals to sponsor the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and, more recently, the English Football Association’s Women’s FA Cup.
Adobe’s deal as the Official Creativity Partner of the NWSL includes a commitment to offer players access to its creative and digital marketing tools. The agreement also connects the players with marketing experts and provides training on how to build their personal brands.
Last week, Adobe replaced Vitality as the title sponsor of the Women’s FA Cup, until “at least” July 2026, according to a statement from the governing body.
As part of that deal, the firm will support the competition in its efforts to engage new fans through the deployment of its technology. This will include allowing all 460 clubs that participate in the event to access to its AI-driven content creation app, Adobe Express, to design and share content and promote themselves on social media.
The FA will also receive access to Adobe Digital Media tools, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly and Adobe Acrobat to engage new fans.
SportBusiness has approached Adobe for comment.