By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted August 24, 2021 | In MotoGP, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted August 24, 2021 | In MotoGP, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
There’s no doubt about it: MotoGP remains one of the most coveted global sports marketing platforms. Sponsorship agencies and marketing departments rely on the ‘premier class’ for its unique blend of speed, cutting-edge technology and cross-sectional audiences. Over the past three decades, dozens of companies have turned the championship into a springboard for notoriety. Here we review ten brands that, thanks to well-designed programmes and flawless activations, have made it into the international sports marketing hall of fame.
(We have excluded motorcycle manufacturers: Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Aprilia, etc., as their presence is inherent to the championship).
It is impossible to imagine the paddock without the two bull logo. In 2025, the Austrian manufacturer will be sporting its colours on the four factory KTM RC16s and Tech3, the first time since 2020 that both teams will have identical livery. Red Bull’s strategic shift to the KTM-Tech3 programme, abandoning previous sponsorships with Honda, guarantees 360° coverage at events, fan zones and digital content.
The green ‘claw’ arrived after Red Bull, but made up for it with noise and big parties. The multi-year agreement ensures that Monster will remain Yamaha Factory’s title sponsor until at least 2027, with new technical management and a 2025 livery unveiled in February. It also activates naming rights for Grand Prix events (Catalonia, Aragon) and sponsors talents such as Fabio Quartararo.
Valentino Rossi turned his race number into an empire: the VR46 Racing Apparel brand sells more than 3 million garments a year and operates the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team in MotoGP. Despite breaking with Yamaha in 2024, the VR46 academy continues to train riders in all three categories and maintains partnerships with eBay and Monster Energy.
From manufacturing generators to rubbing shoulders with prime-time sport. Prima Pramac Racing has made the biggest move of the winter: it is leaving Ducati and becoming Yamaha’s ‘Factory 2’ satellite team until 2031, an unprecedented seven-year agreement. As a result, the red and purple logo will be displayed at global events while Pramac maintains its reputation as a breeding ground for future champions. Pramac won the MotoGP World Championship with Jorge Martin in 2024.
After 30 years and 15 titles, the Spanish oil company announced the end of its historic partnership with Honda at the end of 2024. The company will recalibrate its investment in motorsport, but the iconic orange-white-blue combination leaves an indelible legacy of innovation in racing fuels and lubricants.
From the municipality of Asolo to the world. The Italian firm dominates in suits and boots thanks to the Tech-Air 10 airbag with AI algorithms, now mandatory on all factory teams. Its slogan, ‘If it protects Márquez, it protects everyday riders,’ remains pure gold for the brand’s storytelling.
The sole tyre supplier since 2016 and until 2026, the French brand is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Power GP range before handing over the baton to Pirelli in 2027. In the meantime, it has announced a five-year partnership with WorldSBK starting from the same season.
The word ‘sunglasses’ evokes Oakley, and MotoGP is its showcase. In 2024, the brand renewed its status as official eyewear supplier and launched the limited edition Sylas MotoGP collection, including a VIP prize draw. Its cross-promotions with riders such as Fabio Quartararo flood Instagram every weekend.
Discreet but consistent, Motul celebrates 10 years as the official lubricant partner of MotoGP with the launch of GP Ultimate 4T oil, inspired by Jorge Martín‘s 2024 championship win. It also holds title rights for iconic races such as Assen and Motegi and specific sponsorships with Tech3 KTM.
Sky Italia retains exclusive MotoGP rights until 2025 with its dedicated Sky Sport MotoGP channel (dial 208) and produces multi-platform content that fuels market rumours and young audiences. Despite the end of the original ‘Sky VR46’, the channel remains linked to the Italian talent academy and leads the way in Ultra HD broadcasts.
These ten brands demonstrate that a well-conceived sponsorship programme in MotoGP can multiply visibility, engagement and sales on a global scale. From energy drinks to safety technology, each case offers lessons on 360° activation, brand consistency and audience data exploitation. Ready to accelerate your strategy? MotoGP remains the fastest track to global notoriety.
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A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
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Read MoreIn an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
When first approaching a motorsport sponsorship project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Motorsport is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
Motorsport is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A motorsport sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which racing series, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the real heart of motorsport sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a motorsport marketing project, you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase online, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
We have been involved in motorsport sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
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