The 2006 World Cup tournament held by FIFA is officially sponsored by fifteen companies who have reached agreements with FIFA. The official sponsors include Adidas, Anheuser-Busch, Avaya, Coca-Cola, Continental (tires), Deutsche Telekom, Emirates, Fuji Film, Gillette, Hyundai, MasterCard, McDonald's, Philips, Toshiba, and Yahoo.

To become an official 2006 World Cup sponsor, a company must pay between and million to FIFA for the exclusive right. The range exists because each deal is separate and includes varying levels of rights and perks. Some agreements cost more because a company's advertisement is on signage on the sideline of the field. Others may cost less because signage is not directly on the field and will therefore be seen less by crowds and the viewing public. Also, some sponsors pay for full exclusivity within the venues and at official FIFA World Cup events. MasterCard and Coca-Cola fall into this category. MasterCard is the only credit card accepted at the tournament and Coke, the only cola served at the tournament.

Another reason that companies sponsor the event is to receive some of the exclusive perks that are available to official 2006 World Cup sponsors. For example, they receive the right to use the World Cup emblem and logos in advertisement and packaging leading up to the World Cup. They also receive a large amount of complimentary tickets to the games, which are difficult to come by. The biggest perk is the VIP boxes, which required extensive construction at several stadiums before they were awarded tournament games. These boxes are for elite persons attending the games and the sponsors will have access to them for games.

Sponsors are generally seeking increased exposure to further extend brands around the world in today's global business community. Being one of only fifteen official sponsors of the tournament gives the sponsors an exclusive opportunity to reach billions of people around the globe through television, print media, products bearing the official logo, and through internet based coverage; the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan had a total of 49.2 billion viewer hours, which is calculated as the total number of hours watched by all viewers of the tournament. Fans will be watching the games on television, reading about the games in magazines and papers, and following results and standings through the official FIFA World Cup site, all the while being constantly shown the names and brands of the official sponsors.

The ability to build brand awareness in new and foreign markets for official World Cup sponsors is worth the price. Each sponsor will gain access to many countries around the world with the ability to showcase its name, brand, and products in association with the world's most popular game and the world's most watched sporting event. This is particularly advantageous for an American company that sponsors the event, like Anheuser Busch, Coca-Cola, Gillette, or Yahoo, to associate itself with the game of soccer, which has a much larger audience outside of the U.S. Sponsorship gives a company an opportunity to grow a brand and be connected with the world's game around the globe.

The upcoming articles in the World Cup series will examine specific sponsors more in depth and the effect official sponsorship has had in the past, the effect the sponsorship will generate in the future, and whether it is an appropriate expenditure of a company's funds for marketing purposes.