Century 21 is teaming up with MLS – in this play Major League Soccer, not the Multiple Listing Service – for a new, multiyear partnership.

Heading into the league’s 30th season, kicking off Feb. 22, Century 21 will serve as the Official Real Estate Services Partner of MLS, the MLS All-Star Game and the MLS Cup presented by Audi, the partners announced last week.

Beginning this year, the Century 21 brand will be integrated into national broadcasts on MLS Season Pass, appear in stadium promotions, and have an on-site presence at milestone MLS events. Additionally, the collaboration includes a series of Century 21 brand activations throughout the season, including premium ticket and hospitality experiences at MLS matches nationwide.

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Madison-based Anywhere Real Estate Inc. The pairing comes as MLS comes off a record-setting season in attendance, merchandise sales and social media engagement – and continues to grow. The league signed 18 new partners as sponsors last year. MLS and Soccer United Marking, its commercial arm, marked double-digit percentage partnership and revenue growth year over year.

“As we look ahead to our 30th season we are thrilled to welcome Century 21 Real Estate to the Major League Soccer family,” said MLS Senior Vice President, Brand Alliances Greg Millard. “MLS is driven by the unmatched enthusiasm that fuels every game and every fan experience, and together with the CENTURY 21 brand, we’ll engage with fans in ways that directly support its network of agents across the country.”

NJBIZ recently spoke with Century 21’s Tori Keichinger, vice president, head of marketing, about the “match” with MLS.

Ready to launch

“For us, Century 21 has a long history with activating in sports,” Keichinger explained. “It is a core common thread of our experience in the home, whether it’s gathering as a family to follow our favorite teams, or whether it’s the backyard legend playing and honing his craft or her craft.”

That touchstone of shared experiences ties into “The Joy of Home” campaign Century 21 launched last fall — featuring its first-ever Times Square billboards. The MLS partnership marks the first broad-scale media launch for the promotion.

“It give us access to a dedicated audience — that next generation of home buyers and sellers,” Keichinger explained. “And we know that the MLS has a truly engaged fan base.”

In fact, MLS fans get more information about products advertised via sports sponsorships (37%) compared with overall sports fans (21%), according to a consumer intelligence report from YouGov published last October. After seeing sponsorships, MLS viewers take action: 37% get more information about the advertised product, while 28% talk to friends, family and colleagues about the advertised product, the report found.

In a bit of synchronicity, the age of the average home buyer is also about the same as the average MLS fan: pushing 40.

While the former is currently at a historical high of 38, Forbes describes the league’s fanbase as “the youngest and most diverse … in North American sports with the average fan age 37.4 years, 67% Gen Z and Millennial, 77% digitally native and 31% Hispanic.” 

‘A resounding yes’

“We also looked at a lot of the data around the likelihood of the MLS audience in particular to be in market to buy or sell within the next 12 to 24 months, as well as likelihood to be in market to apply for a mortgage,” Keichinger explained. “So we look at all of that behavioral data from platforms like Nielsen and we’re able to look at, is the audience that is attending and tuning into Major League soccer in alignment with the audience that makes the most sense for us to be reaching.

“And the answer was a resounding yes, even more so than some of the other leagues that you might expect to be indexed against,” she said. 

[W]e’re able to look at, is the audience that is attending and tuning into Major League soccer in alignment with the audience that makes the most sense for us to be reaching. And the answer was a resounding yes.

An MLS fan is more likely to be a parent with a child under 18 and “have more disposable income, like their jobs, and have a positive outlook on their financial futures,” the YouGov report found. In fact, 49% of MLS fans anticipate their finances to improve over the next 12 months, the report said. 

Keichinger also highlighted the collaboration as an opportunity for Century 21 to connect with Hispanic soccer fans.

“The Urban Institute projects that between now and 2040, about 70% of net new homeowners are expected to be Hispanic. So we see this as a nice opportunity to connect with that engaged fan base as well,” she said.

Putting Century 21 ‘front and center’

Central to the Century 21 partnership is gameday visibility via signage at the arena pitch or field level.

“If you have ever watched a soccer match or been to one in person, there’s very few breaks. So, it’s important that you have that integrated experience within the match itself. And there’s some really fun ways from the ground level – pun intended – that we can make sure that Century 21 is front and center,” Keichinger said. 

That includes incorporating Joy of Home campaign elements from the brand’s Times Square activation, such as animation from billboards and “that pop of our legacy gold.”  

“We’re going to see that around stadiums in every single league-controlled game throughout the season, from the end of February through middle of October,” according to Keichinger. 

That visibility is also important considering changes in how fans seek out sports, with streaming gaining ground as a platform for these live events.

“In fact, in 2024, it was the first year that streaming viewership actually outpaced broadcast,” Keichinger said. “So we know that user behavior is changing.”

YouGuv found MLS fans are two times more likely than the average American to engage with Apple TV+ content. The league streams exclusively on the Apple platform, consolidating its audience in one place.

Personalized approach

The partnership also affords Century 21 the ability to activate hospitality experiences in-game for customers and partners — “really bringing our network to the games to actually see it, feel it, touch it; and that will also include the MLS All-Star game and MLS Cup,” Keichinger said. “And then we do have the ability to activate in soccer celebration and really make it feel more tangible at those actual games. And on top of that, the ability to obviously use MLS IP as a true partner and potential to use MLS player likeness.”

While Century 21 wants the launch to feel big, Keichinger said it’s important for Century 21 to let its agents find their own footing within the campaign.

“[T]o leave enough room to really understand what’s going to have the greatest impact for our agents at the local level so that when they’re on the sidelines of their community youth soccer game, that it’s having as much impact there as it is on this national stage,” she said.

To do that, Century 21 provides a toolkit to its network featuring templatized assets to customize.

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“[W]e really give enough flexibility for each of our local brokerages to take it and make it work for what’s best for them,” Keichinger explained. “So whether that includes signage that they can put up around their local soccer pitch, whether that is the ability to create Century 21 Gold and Black Jerseys for their local team, really the opportunity’s there.”

The internal reception has been “overwhelming.”

“Folks are really excited about not only seeing their brand and bright lights in a big stadium, but also the opportunities that it brings for them to activate at the local level. So yeah, the excitement has been great here,” Keichinger said, pointing toward the partnership’s larger impact, as well.

Century 21 is represented in 80 countries globally; and soccer is the most-watched sport worldwide.

“And so a lot of our international affiliates are jazzed about this as well because many of their homegrown players are participating in the MLS and they know World Cup offers them an opportunity to sort of draft off of this as well. So it’s more than just a United States play. It’s a global one, too.”

Fever pitch

Creating more magnitude: North America will host the 2026 World Cup, with the final game set to take place in the Meadowlands. Ahead of that, the FIFA Club World Cup will hit MetLife Stadium this June. And, the U.S. and Canada will also host the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer.

Through this agreement, Century 21 Real Estate also becomes an official partner of MLS NEXT Pro, the professional men’s soccer league in the U.S. and Canada that completes the pro player pathway to MLS first teams.

Keichinger highlighted the “incredible momentum” of both partners. “We just think that this is the prime opportunity to really join the momentum of our two organizations and get our two brands in front of that captivated audience,” she explained.

“We think this partnership has sort of endless potential and the moment is just so ripe with … the kickoff of the 30th season heading into a World Cup year here on our home turf and Century 21 being a core element of the American fabric; we think that that just feels ripe.”