Two companies with veterinary interests have promoted themselves front and center on players’ jerseys in Major League Soccer since the early 2020s — Nationwide, which sponsors the hometown Columbus Crew, and Purina with the local St. Louis City SC. Not to be outdone, Trupanion, which competes with Nationwide for first place in pet health insurance, now displays its logo on the jerseys of Seattle Reign FC, a team in the National Women’s Soccer League.
The multiyear agreement has potential international implications, said Margi Tooth, the CEO of Seattle-based Trupanion. “The NWSL is becoming more of a global phenomenon,” she said. “The national women’s team is a big deal in the U.S. As women’s soccer takes hold, we expect to reach global markets over time.”
Trupanion’s sponsorship spend is “big,” she said, but “isn’t a Super Bowl ad-level investment.” The Trupanion brand will also appear on stadium signage, and the company plans to host veterinarians at home and away games and “find ways to celebrate the veterinary profession,” Tooth said.
“It’s more than a shirt, although I don’t want to downplay that part because it’s cool when you see a Trupanion shirt running around on the soccer pitch.”
Running around is what the British-born boss used to do. She played lacrosse and was an avid runner, “although the older I get, the less I can do these things.”
As with any investment, companies expect a payoff, and Trupanion is no different. “Pet insurance is on the cusp of becoming a mass-market product,” Tooth said. “This sponsorship gives us an opportunity to be in front of pet parents before they realize veterinary care can be expensive. The intent behind it was, ‘Let’s put the brand in the hearts and minds of a community of pet parents.’”
The agreement with Seattle Reign FC is a first of its kind for Trupanion. “It’s a new chapter for us,” Tooth said. “It’s a chapter that aligns with where I think the market is today. (Because of the costs) there is more of a need for people to think about being a pet parent prior to getting a pet.”
Trupanion and Tooth are ready for the challenge. “I’m supercompetitive,” she said, “so anything that has competition in it, I’m like, ‘Yes, let’s do it!’”