Aworks team, sometimes also referred to asfactory team andcompany team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with their main sponsor and owner, and usually incorporate its logo, its name, or both, in the sport club or team logo. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.[1][2] Inmotorsport, a works team or factory team is a manufacturer that builds its own car or motorbike including the engine.[3]
Company teams are owned, sponsored and managed by companies in order to raise awareness about those companies'brands, being usually named after those companies and brands as part and parcel of those companies'marketing strategy.[4][5][6] Sometimes a single company (e.g.Red Bull GmbH)[7] owns more than one team named after it competing in different sports or even in the same sport.[8][9][10]
When they meet certain criteria, college and university teams, also known sometimes as student teams, competing in semi-professional or professional leagues and championships, instead of exclusively competing inuniversity/college level sport, have been considered works teams as well. In some regions of the world likeEurope andLatin America, university/college sports teams are in many instances fully-integrated in the same national sports league or championship system where amateur, semi-professional and professional teams and athletes compete in one of many divisions of the system's pyramid.[11][12]
Many works teams, factory teams or student teams were started to give staff or students some exercise and entertainment and eventually became professional teams without actually having workers, factory workers or students in their squads, but retained their original names to reflect their historical background.[13]
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Works teams were common in the early days ofprofessional football. TheColumbus Panhandles were a famous works team; it consisted ofPennsylvania Railroad employees, including the famedNesser Brothers, and eventually became a charter member of theNational Football League.
TheGreen Bay Packers obtained its name through company sponsorship from a meat packing company named theIndian Packing Company and its employee and team founder,Curly Lambeau. TheChicago Bears was established by theA. E. Staley food starch company of Decatur, Illinois, as a company team under the name 'Decatur Staleys'.
The National Public Safety Football League is a modern-day example of a league of works teams, with each team in the league consisting of employees of a public department (usually police or fire) in a given city.
This tradition is continued by some teams in theX-League, the highest level of American football in Japan; examples include theIBM Big Blue andFujitsu Frontiers.[14]
Former and current works teams in Africa includeArab Contractors SC of Egypt (also asporting club) andAS Police (Benin).Horseed FC is based in Horseed, Somalia. A seven-time champion of the Somalia League, it is a former army team. Other works teams that have played in the Somali football leagues include Banaadir Telecom, Ports Authority, and Somali Police.
A number of works teams were founded in the formerPortuguese territory of Mozambique that still are currently major teams inthat Portuguese-speaking African country (independent since 1975).Grupo Desportivo da Companhia Têxtil do Punguè andTextáfrica do Chimoio are examples of two works teams which were the teams of two textile companies. In addition, two major teams of the railway network also achieved notoriety – theClube Ferroviário de Maputo and theClube Ferroviário da Beira.
Current and former Asian works teams includeNepal Police Club,Thai Farmers Bank F.C.,Krung Thai Bank F.C.,Viettel F.C. (formerly The Cong), or the football team of theVietnam People's Army, as well asUnited City FC which was once the works team of Vallacar Transit Inc.
In China, there are several works teams or company teams playing in the top professional competitions. These includeBeijing Guoan F.C.,Changchun Yatai F.C.,Guangzhou F.C.,Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. andShanghai Port F.C..
Dempo SC is owned and sponsored by theDempo Mining Corporation Limited.ASEB Sports Club andOil India FC are other examples of company teams. In the past,JCT FC was owned by JCT Mills.
In Iran current and former work teams include theZob Ahan Esfahan F.C., affiliated with a steel factory in Isfahan andSepahan S.C., owned byMobarake Steel company. There are many other teams in Iran that are factory, company and workers teams including,Aluminium Arak F.C.,Paykan F.C.,Foolad F.C.,Sanat Naft Abadan F.C.,F.C. Nassaji Mazandaran,Gol Gohar Sirjan F.C.
Works teams are common in Japan, with severalJ.League clubs starting life as a member of the amateurJapan Soccer League (e.g.,Yokohama F. Marinos, who were originallyNissan F.C.). Modern examples includeHonda F.C.,Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima,Sony Sendai,Tokushima Vortis (founded in 1955 asOtsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Soccer Club) andMaruyasu Okazaki. The highest league Japanese works teams can compete in is theJapan Football League, the de facto national fourth division; the J. League specifically bars works teams from its ranks unless they professionalise and adopt the community they play in as a source of fan support.Yokohama FC is owned by Japanese restaurant operator Onodera Group (which became also a majority shareholder of Portuguese clubUD Oliveirense in November 2022) and thus can be described as a company team as well.[15]
Football in Pakistan has been dominated by departmental and armed forces teams, hiring footballers as employees and providing them with a basic wage to play for their sides and work full time in the off-season.[16][17][18][19] At theNational Football Championship, which was the men's highest level football competition from 1948 to 2003,Karachi-basedPakistan Airlines won the competition nine times.[20] After the introduction of thePakistan Premier League in 2004, works teams continued to dominate the domestic competitions, which poached talented players from clubs without any transfer fees or compensation involved.[21] The teams essentially survived on their department sport budgets, with the players sidelined as permanent employees than as professional footballers.[22] Since thePakistan Football Federation had not made serious attempts to lure businesses to invest in and sponsor teams, the league had a dominance of department and armed forces teams, which resulted in poor attendances.[22]
Majority of the works teams were disbanded following the shutdown of departmental sports in Pakistan in September 2021.[23][24][25][26] Departmental sports in Pakistan were restored in August 2022.[27][28][29] Since 2023, departmental clubs became restricted to thePFF National Challenge Cup.[30][31]
Current and former works teams in South Korea includeBusan Transportation Corporation FC,Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power FC,Ulsan Hyundai Mipo Dolphin FC, andHanil Bank FC.Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors,Ulsan HD FC,Seoul E-Land FC andSuwon Samsung Bluewings are prominent company teams in South Korea.
Tatung F.C., a Taiwanese professional football club based in Taipei, was affiliated with theTatung electronics company.Taiwan Power Company F.C. is owned by theTaiwan Power Company.
European former works teams that later would become noteworthy professional company teams include those ofPSV Eindhoven (Philips),FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (Peugeot),Bayer Leverkusen (Bayer),VfL Wolfsburg (Volkswagen) andFC Carl Zeiss Jena (Carl Zeiss). Most of them are still company teams owned by the company which founded the sports club in the past. Founded, sponsored and owned byRed Bull GmbH, which uses the sports teams as part and parcel of its products'marketing strategy,RB Leipzig andFC Red Bull Salzburg became noted examples of European company teams at the start of the 21st century.[32][33]
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (Peugeot),Evian Thonon Gaillard F.C. (Groupe Danone) andParis FC (LVMH)[34] are examples of notable works or company teams from France historically or currently linked to well-known multinational companies.
Bayer Leverkusen (Bayer),VfL Wolfsburg (Volkswagen),FC Carl Zeiss Jena (Carl Zeiss),TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (SAP'sDietmar Hopp) andRB Leipzig (Red Bull GmbH), founded, sponsored or owned by companies or company founders, are examples of German works teams or company teams.[35]
The name of the football clubVideoton FC (Hungary) comes from a Hungarian contract electronics manufacturer. The club, founded in 1941 by the defence manufacturing company Székesfehérvári Vadásztölténygyár, was made up of workers of the local factory in its early years.
In theLeague of Ireland a number of early clubs, includingSt James's Gate F.C.,Fordsons,Jacobs,Midland Athletic andDundalk all had their origins as a factory or works team. InNorthern Ireland,Linfield F.C. was founded inSandy Row in March 1886 by workers from the Ulster Spinning Company's Linfield Mill. Originally named the Linfield Athletic Club, its playing ground, "the Meadow", was situated behind the mill.Lisburn Distillery F.C. was created as Distillery[36] by employees of Dunville's Royal Irish Distillery in Grosvenor Street, Belfast in July 1879.
In Italy, football teams such asParma A.C. andJuventus were respectively known for years as company teams ofParmalat[37] andFIAT.[38] Actual company or works teams from Italy includeFeralpiSalò, owned byironworks company Feralpi Group.[39]
FC Sheriff Tiraspol is based in the capital of Transnistria, was founded by the Sheriff security company in 1997.
Philips Sport Vereniging (PSV) was founded, owned and sponsored within thePhilips business universe.[40]
The Portuguese conglomerateCompanhia União Fabril (CUF) had also its ownsports club, founded as a true works team in 1937. It was located in theLisbon'sindustrial suburb ofBarreiro, and was calledGrupo Desportivo da CUF. A multisport club, besides top flight football, it housed competitive rink hockey, cycling and rowing teams and departments, among others.[41] The club, which was a major contender in the mainPortuguese Football Championship, was disbanded and replaced byG.D. Fabril due toa military coup in 1974. Other examples include theGrupo Desportivo Riopele founded in 1958 inVila Nova de Famalicão which was the works team of the Riopele textile factory,[42] as well as the sport club established by the Argozelo Mines in 1975 and calledCentro Cultural e Desportivo Minas de Argozelo.Florgrade FC, established in 2014, was founded and is owned by a Portuguesecork industry company with the same name.[43][44][45]
In Romania,Rapid Bucharest was founded in 1923 by a group workers of theGrivița workshops under the name of Asociația culturală și sportivă CFR ("CFR Cultural and Sports Association").Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj was founded in 1907, when the city of Cluj-Napoca was part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, under the name Cluj Railway Sports Club (Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club). From 1907 to 1910, the team played in the municipal championship.
The oldest football club in Spain isRecreativo de Huelva, formed on 23 December 1889 by Dr. William Alexander Mackay[46] and British workers employed by theRio Tinto Company.Sevilla FC, started as a team made up of workers from theSeville Water Works, whileAtlético Madrid was, from 1939 to 1947, called Athletic Aviación de Madrid, having merged with Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza, founded in 1939 by members of the Spanish Air Force.
Most of theUkrainian Premier League clubs in Ukraine trace their roots to factory teams among several there isFC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk that was originally formed as factory team of Bryanka Factory (today Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Plant).FC Shakhtar Horlivka traces its roots to the Football Association of the Gorlovka Artillery Works (FOGAZ). In times of theSoviet Union until the 1960s in Kyiv was a sports club ofArsenal Factory, SC Arsenal Kyiv, which fielded a number of teams in various sports such as association football and hockey, among others. In 2001, there was an attempt to revive the club by the Kyiv city authorities (seeFC Arsenal Kyiv).FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi was originally formed by the Elvorti Factory personnel and after the Communist revolution it was renamed along with the factory.FC Zorya Luhansk was formed at the October Revolution Locomotive Factory (todayLuhanskteplovoz).FC Metalist Kharkiv was formed at the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory (todayMalyshev Factory). There also was a factory team of the Donetsk Steel Works (seeFC Metalurh Donetsk). At the KryvbasOre (today Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Association) were created such teams likeFC Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih andFC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.FC Metalurh Zaporizhia traces its roots to the team ofZaporizhstal.FC Motor Zaporizhzhia is another football team fromZaporizhzhia which is owned by the Ukrainian aircraft engine manufacturerMotor Sich.FC Torpedo Zaporizhia traces its roots to the team ofZAZ car factory.
Several professionalfootball clubs in the United Kingdom were also formed as works teams, includingManchester United (the team of theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot atNewton Heath),Arsenal (formed as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at theRoyal Arsenal inWoolwich),West Ham United (formerlyThames Ironworks),Coventry City, founded by workers of theSinger bicycle company, and the Scottish teamLivingston (formerly Ferranti Thistle).
A few amateur and semi-professional United Kingdom association football (soccer) works teams retain their companies' names, includingAirbus UK,Cammell Laird, andVauxhall Motors. Other former and current amateur and semi-professional UK works teams includeCrawley Down Gatwick F.C.,Civil Service F.C.,Harrogate Railway Athletic F.C.,United Services Portsmouth F.C.,Metropolitan Police F.C.,Stewarts & Lloyds Corby A.F.C.,Royal Engineers A.F.C.,Atherton Collieries A.F.C.,Prescot Cables F.C.,Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C. andCardiff Civil Service.Bath City Football Club from Somerset, England, was formed in 1889 as Bath A.F.C. The team changed its name to Bath Railway in 1902, before settling on the name Bath City F.C. Included among Scottish non-league and amateur works teams areInverurie Loco Works F.C.,Colville Park A.F.C. (Ravenscraig steelworks),Shawfield Amateurs (White's Chemical Works) andBurntisland Shipyard A.F.C., while Glynhill Moorcroft A.F.C. began as Babcock & Wilcox F.C., the works team of the Renfrew engineering company.
Fudbalski klub Željezničar (English: Football Club Željezničar) is a Bosnian professional football club based inSarajevo,Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name Željezničar means "railway worker", because it was established by a group of railway workers. Another working-class football club from Bosnia isNK Čelik (lit.transl. FC Steel) fromZenica, which was founded by the workers of the iron andsteel mill in Zenica. Being a mineral-rich country, with many mines all over Bosnia, led to establishment of several clubs named FK Rudar (transl. FC Miner), such asFK Rudar Prijedor,FK Rudar Ugljevik,FK Rudar Kakanj, andFK Rudar Breza, while other clubs are simply called FK Radnik or FK Radnički (transl. Laborer – transl. Worker's), such asFK Radnik Bijeljina,FK Radnik Hadžići, andFK Radnički Lukavac.
More clubs in former Yugoslavia were formed byYugoslav Railways employees, for instance, Serbian clubŽAK Subotica (Železničarski atletski klub Subotica, translationRailways athletic club Subotica) was a club formed and backed throughout its existence by the railways company. It was dissolved in 1945. In its place the new socialist authorities which replaced the monarchy in Yugoslavia formedFK Spartak Subotica which kept tight links with the railways company.[48] Željezničar Sarajevo, ŽAK Subotica and Spartak Subotica are the railways-backed clubs with best performances in the league, but besides these there were many others such asŽAK Kikinda,Železničar Belgrade,Železničar Smederevo,Železničar Lajkovac,Železničar Niš, in Serbia, andŽeljezničar Doboj in Bosnia. In other parts of Yugoslavia there are other cases, in North Macedonia,FK Rabotnički became owned in 1949 by the labour union of the railways company.[49] The link between the club and the railways was kept ever since with their followers even nowadays are known asŽelezničari and the railways simbol is part of club's logo. In Slovenia the railways had one club in each one of the two main Slovenian cites,NK Železničar Maribor[50] andNK Železničar Ljubljana. In relation with railways, Serbian clubGFK Jasenica 1911 became known during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as FK Mladost GOŠA because at that period the club was backed by the GOŠA, a former train wagons factory fromSmederevska Palanka.
Other cases in Yugoslavia includeHNK Borovo, which was formed in 1933 as SK BATA Borovo. The club was formed as the promotional team for theBata Shoes factory inBorovo and it was founded by the BATA company founder,Tomáš Baťa himself.[51] The company had already earlier in 1922 became owner of the Czech clubFC Zlín which was known between 1924 and 1948 as SK Bata Zlin.[52]
The best well known success story of a company and football club connection in Yugoslavia was the one ofFK Zemun.Zemun, a city just in the outskirts of capitalBelgrade, was known for many home-born notable players and some more or less successful football clubs ever since first half of the 1920s. SK Sparta Zemun played in theYugoslav First League still in the 1930s. However, two decades after the end of the Second World War, the city had just a big number of small lower-leagues clubs. At that time Zemun was also home ofGalenika a.d., a leadingpharmaceutical company in Yugoslavia and one of the major of all South-Eastern Europe. The company owned a small club, FK Galenika, however by the late 1960s they decided to play a bigger role in football. FK Jedinstvo Zemun was at time the leading club in the city. In 1962 they achieved promotion to theYugoslav Second League but they managed to stay at that level just two seasons. In 1969 they were playing third level, the Serbian Republic League, and were struggling financially. It was then that Galenika decided to take over the club and by merging it with its own minor club they formed FK Galenika Zemun. The company injected resources and backed the club financially, and the results immediately stated to show up. Right in the first season the club managed promotion back to the Yugoslav Second League where they will become among the strongest teams in the following decade. After several failed attempts Galenika Zemun achieved promotion to the Yugoslav First League in 1982 and that same year they reached the semi-finals of theYugoslav Cup. Playing in the Yugoslav top level, during the 1980s the club played side-by-side with the big ones such asRed Star,Partizan Belgrade,Hajduk Split orDinamo Zagreb, and Yugoslav football fans all became well aware of the name FK Galenika Zemun. Later, by the early 1990s the wars and the break-up of Yugoslavia started, Galenika suffered the financially asphyxiating consequences of the economic sanctions imposed to Serbia. The company had to drop its backing to the club and the club dropped the company name and became known just as FK Zemun. They managed to survive for some time during the 1990s in theFirst League of FR Yugoslavia, however the results were being worse each year, and by the turn of the millennium FK Zemun was relegated to the lower-leagues with just few occasional but flashy and inconsistent comebacks. Easy to conclude how the presence of Galenika in the club was fundamental for them to archive results and stability and without them Zemun supporters can only remember nostalgically the period when the club had its golden era thanks to the perfect wedding with a major local pharmaceutical company.
One of those minor clubs that emerged in Zemun wasSK Naša Krila Zemun (Naša Krila meansOur Wings), which existed only for three years between 1947 and 1950, and was formed and owned by theYugoslav Air Force. The club managed to achieve an impressive record for such a short existence, making its presence in two seasons in the Yugoslav First League and reaching the Yugoslav Cup final in 1947 and 1949. While the Yugoslav Air Force created its club in Serbia in Zemun, a suburb of the capital Belgrade, theYugoslav Navy created their club in Croatia, in the major Yugoslav port,Split, and named it NK Mornar Split. However, just as Naša Krila, the club was short-lived: it was formed in 1946 and disbanded two years later, and by the 1960s a new club, which was formed by a merger of a number of smaller ones, was making its way to the high end of Yugoslav football.
Serbian clubFK Smederevo 1924 was founded as a local iron factory SARTID football team. The club will be known by the company name since its foundation, in 1924, until 1944 when it became nationalised. In 1992, it will restore the name Sartid just as the club ownership returned to the Sartid metallurgical company and this state of affairs will remain till 2004, the year the company, by then now owned byU.S. Steel, left the direction of the club.
There are many other cases in Serbia, specially among medium-size clubs and their main local companies, such asFK Čukarički (known as Čukarički Stankom between 2001 and 2011 when it was owned by Stankom company),FK Hajduk Kula (known as FK Hajduk Rodić during the period it was backed by the Rodić company),FK Javor Ivanjica (known since summer 2014 as FK Javor Matis due to its backing from local Matis company),FK Sloboda Užice (known as FK Sloboda Point Sevojno after its merger with FK Sevojno in 2010 and backing from Point company),ČSK Čelarevo (also known as ČSK Pivara, owned and closely related throughout its history by beer manufacturerPivara Čelarevo),FK Mladost Apatin (formed by the owner of a local clothing factory Tri Zvezde, it was named since its foundation in 1924 till 1950 as SK Tri Zvezde and during that time most of the players of the squad were also employees at the factory[53]).
A widespread works team system formed the basis of amateur sport in the Soviet Union, with virtually all workplaces and industries having sport teams. The system also provided the support forde facto professional athletes, who were employees of various non-sport agencies and enterprises and officially designated as amateurs.
Bethlehem Steel F.C., which holds a record number ofU.S. Open Cup wins, was the factory team of theBethlehem Steel Corporation in Pennsylvania. TheNew York Red Bulls is a well-known company team in the US.
One of the most popular teams in Mexico,Cruz Azul, is a works team owned byCooperativa La Cruz Azul, S.C.L., an industrial cement company. The team was formed on 22 May 1927 by some of the company's workers.
Several Argentinian clubs began life as the works teams of British-owned railway companies, includingRosario Central,Talleres de Córdoba,Ferro Carril Oeste,Club Ferrocarril Midland andClub Atlético Central Córdoba. ClubDeportivo Mandiyú, also referred to as Mandiyú, is anArgentine football club, based inCorrientes, in the Province of the same name. The club was founded under the name "Club Deportivo Tipoiti" on 14 December 1952, by a group of textile workers from the Tipoiti textile factory in Corrientes, Argentina. Because theArgentine Football Association did not accept commercial company names, the club had to change its name to "Club Deportivo Mandiyú", which means cotton in the indigenous language ofGuaraní.
In Brazil, clubs that were born as works teams include São Paulo Railway (nowNacional), Cotonifício Rodolfo Crespi (nowJuventus),Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (also asporting club, formed by railway workers), andBangu.Artsul (concrete industry),Icasa (cotton industry) andRed Bull Bragantino (energy drink industry) are examples of football teams established and backed by companies, also known as company teams.
In Ecuador, a perfect example of a works team isCS Emelec, which was founded by theEmpresa Eléctrica del Ecuador,Guayaquil's first electric company. For several decades, Emelec's players and directors were employees in the company, though such involvement decreased gradually until the company eventually folded in the 2000s (decade), the club being de facto autonomous for decades before.Sociedad Deportiva Aucas is another important works team in Ecuador. Historically the most popular team inQuito, Aucas was founded and initially integrated and financed by employees ofRoyal Dutch Shell. They named the club after theHuaorani tribes that they encountered while prospecting for oil in the Ecuadorian Amazonian jungles.
In Peru,Club Alianza Lima was founded as Sport Alianza in 1901 by workers in the Alianza Racing Horse Stud, then property of two-time President of PeruAugusto B. Leguía.
Uruguay has one of the best known clubs that began as a works team:Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club, or just CURCC, which was the basis for the later foundation ofPeñarol, one of the top two clubs in that country.
In the early days of baseball, most teams were composed of amateurs, and many of these teams were composed of players who worked for a business, such as a factory or railroad yard. As the profile of the sport rose, professional teams began to dominate and the factory teams faded away.[54]
In Japan, teams playing in theNippon Professional Baseball leagues, like theFukuoka SoftBank Hawks, a prominent professional baseball team owned by theSoftBank Group, are company teams which employ the name of their owners in their official team names and logos.[55] Other company teams belonging to major corporations competing in the main Japanese professional baseball leagues includeChiba Lotte Marines (Lotte Holdings),Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (Nippon Ham Co., Ltd),Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (Rakuten) andTokyo Yakult Swallows (Yakult Honsha), among others.
In Japan, non-professional baseball is known as Shakai-Jin Yakyū (社会人野球,Shakaijinyagu, english: Baseball of Society Members).
Amateur baseball leagues exist all over Japan, with many teams sponsored by companies. Because of that, it is usually referred to in English as Industrial Baseball. Amateur baseball is governed by theJapan Amateur Baseball Association (JABA). Players on these teams usually are employed by their sponsoring companies and receive salaries as company employees, not as baseball players. However, in recent years, JABA has allowed corporate-related teams to have an X number of players that can be hired and paid full-time to just play baseball, thus making it more semi-professional than amateur.[56][57]
The best teams in these circuits are determined via tournaments and leagues that lead qualification for three tournaments: theIntercity baseball tournament, the Amateur club national championship and theIndustrial League national tournament. Corporate teams are allowed to play only the Intercity and the Industrial National Tournaments.[58]
The level of play in Japanese industrial baseball is very competitive; Industrial League players are often selected to represent Japan in international tournaments when NPB players are not available to play[58] and Major League Baseball players such asHideo Nomo (Shin-Nitetsu Sakai),[59]Junichi Tazawa (Nippon Oil)[60] andKosuke Fukudome (Nihon Seimei),[61] have been discovered by professional clubs while playing industrial baseball.Most professional sports teams in the Philippines until recently, have been owned by companies, and leagues are exclusively participated at by these teams. Examples of such leagues include thePhilippine Basketball Association, and formerly theManila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association and thePhilippine Basketball League.
Recent developments saw the emergence of leagues with teams based on localities, such as theMaharlika Pilipinas Basketball League and theNational Basketball League.
TheClube Portugal Telecom, commonly known as Portugal Telecom, was abasketball team based inLisbon, Portugal. The club, a company team, was founded in 1996 and was owned byPortugal Telecom, the largest telecommunications service provider in the country. It was dissolved in 2003.[62][63][64]
ManyUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI) professional cycling teams are owned, sponsored and managed by companies in order to raiseawareness of those companies'brands. These cycling teams are usually named after those companies and brands in a premeditated attempt to boost those companies'marketing strategy. Examples of this have been found in many different geographical locations and markets around the world and throughout the history of the sport.UCI WorldTeam is the term used by the UCI to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling and many have been backed by commercial brands to such an extent that the team name became interchangeable with the commercial brand behind it. Until the mid-1950s professional cycling sponsorship was limited to manufacturing companies in the bicycle business. In 1954, when the European post-war bike boom ended, European bike companies became financially stressed. In 1953, theGanna bike company's racing team told its top riderFiorenzo Magni that it would be unable to maintain the team in the following season. Magni was well-connected with the GermanNivea brand because the riders used Nivea products to soften the chamois in their shorts. When Magni signed the cosmetic company as his team's title sponsor, he spearheaded a new trend in cycling where teams became part and parcel of many companies' marketing strategy.[65]Peugeot's cycling team, a fully-fledged factory team or company team in cycling by definition sincePeugeot founded the team and produced its bikes, is listed oncyclingranking.com as the most successful cycling team of all time, with a large margin on the second placed team,Alcyon (started by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer).[66]
Currently the strongest works teams are in Asia. TheTop League in Japan features teams such asSuntory Sungoliath,Toyota Verblitz andIBM Big Blue.Samsung has a team in the Korean league.
United Kingdom'srugby union too has a works team tradition going back many decades, and although the clubs have declined post professionalism in heartland countries, it has not been completely extinguished. As late as 1988 the Wales captain played his club rugby for South Wales Police. As of 2017, Tata Steel play in the Second Flight of the WRU Club Pyramid. The British Army still plays occasional matches against clubs, and has won the Middlesex Sevens in the 2000s.
Inmotorsport, the most well-established or traditional definition of a works team or factory-backed team is a manufacturer that builds its own car or motorbike including the engine.[3] In a broader sense, it can also be any team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization.Scuderia Ferrari is a notable example of a works team or factory-backed team inFormula One.[67] Several factory-backedmotorcycle racing andWorld Rally Championship teams exist as well. The creation of theWorld Sports Car Championship in 1953 changed motorsport deeply and was marked by the establishment of teams like Ferrari,Aston Martin,Mercedes-Benz, andJaguar, which began to enter multiple factory backed cars or works cars to compete.[68]Red Bull GmbH entered Formula One in 2005 after creating its own company teamRed Bull Racing, and in 2022 had started the development of comprehensivein-house capabilities in order to secure the production ofits own powertrains by 2026.[33][69] In the 2010s, many works teams, also known as factory-backed teams in the context of motorsport, entered the newly createdFormula E open-wheel electric motorsport series.[70][71][72]
A number of college and university teams around the world have played professionally orsemi-professionally while competing in the main top level leagues and championships of their countries instead of competing inuniversity/college level sport. This includes:[11][12]
Media related toSports teams of manufacturing companies at Wikimedia Commons