First-of-its-kind partnership to help Earthquakes capitalize on soccer's surging popularity through AI-powered GTM transformation

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Apollo, the AI go-to-market system, announced today a multiyear Official Sleeve Partnership with Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes that entails becoming both the club's Official Go-to-Market Partner and the first go-to-market (GTM) company to combine a professional sports sponsorship with a full-scale partnership for revenue operations transformation.

As soccer continues its unprecedented rise in popularity across the United States, with MLS seeing a 62% year-over-year increase in viewership to kick off the 2026 season, the unique partnership positions the Earthquakes to modernize their GTM, accelerate revenue and capitalize on the sport's expanding global audience.

In the partnership, Apollo will serve as both a brand sponsor with its logo featured prominently on the right sleeve of the Earthquakes' jersey, and as a technology partner, powering the club's GTM strategy. The club will deploy Apollo's system across key revenue-generating functions, including group ticket sales, sponsorship pipeline management, inbound lead routing and season ticket renewals, creating a modern GTM system designed to drive fan engagement and commercial growth.

"We see this partnership as a natural extension of Apollo's mission to make world-class go-to-market accessible to everyone by bringing it to the world's most popular game," said Matt Curl, CEO of Apollo. "Soccer is entering an incredible growth phase in the U.S., creating a once-in-a-generation opportunity for clubs to deepen fan relationships and accelerate commercial growth. Every professional sports team is running a revenue business focused on finding customers, engaging fans, growing sponsorships and driving renewals. By bringing together data, intelligence and execution into one system, we're helping the Earthquakes build a modern commercial operation that will become a model for the future of sports."  

The partnership reflects Apollo's broader vision that every organization can benefit from its AI GTM system. With the rise in soccer's popularity, clubs face increasing pressure to convert fan interest into lasting relationships, ticket sales, sponsorships and recurring revenue. While sports organizations have historically relied on fragmented tools across ticketing, sponsorship sales, CRM and marketing, Apollo brings those workflows together into one connected system to help organizations capitalize on this moment.

For the Earthquakes, that means:

• Modernizing group ticket sales workflows
• Improving inbound lead management
• Growing sponsorship pipeline
• Streamlining season ticket renewal campaigns
• Giving sales and marketing teams a unified system

"While excitement around soccer continues to grow across the country, we're investing in the technology and systems that will help us better engage our supporters and continue growing our commercial business," said Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee. "I started my career in sales and have never seen the kind of technology that Apollo provides. This will transform our approach to sales and marketing by giving us one system to connect data, automate workflows and create a more connected experience for Quakes fans throughout their journey with the club."

"We are excited to roll out the Apollo AI GTM system to revenue teams across our organization," added Earthquakes Chief Strategy Officer Ian Anderson. "Apollo is at the forefront of AI-powered GTM and the Quakes are committed to being ahead of the technology curve for our industry."

The Earthquakes become Apollo's first official sports partner, laying the foundation for a broader strategy to bring modern GTM technology to sports organizations worldwide. Apollo plans to use the partnership as a blueprint for working with hundreds of professional sports organizations facing similar revenue and commercial challenges.

"This is just the beginning," added Curl. "Professional sports organizations have the same GTM challenges as fast-growing businesses. We're excited to demonstrate what's possible when data, intelligence, and execution come together in a single system to help teams build stronger relationships with fans, partners, and customers."

The partnership will officially debut ahead of the Earthquakes' annual California Clasico match on Saturday, July 25, against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium, with Apollo and the club jointly celebrating the launch through customer events, social activations and in-stadium experiences.

About Apollo

Apollo is the AI GTM System that uniquely combines data, intelligence, and execution in one loop helping every business find and win their next customer. Trusted by millions of users and over 600,000 companies worldwide, Apollo combines one of the industry's largest B2B contact databases with a purpose built GTM intelligence engine and a full execution stack, in an all-in-one system. Learn more at apollo.io.

About San Jose Earthquakes

The San Jose Earthquakes, one of Major League Soccer's original teams, are the epicenter for soccer in Northern California, playing at the highest professional level in the United States. The club won MLS Cups in 2001 and 2003 and took home Supporters' Shields in 2005 and 2012. The Earthquakes are based out of PayPal Park, an 18,000-seat soccer-specific stadium that opened in 2015 and is the first cloud-enabled venue in MLS. The organization was originally founded in 1974 in the North American Soccer League, and in 2024, celebrated its 50th anniversary of positively impacting communities around Northern California. The club's nonprofit arm, the Quakes Foundation, focuses on health and fitness initiatives for local underserved youth and fighting food insecurity. For more information about the Earthquakes, visit sjearthquakes.com.

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SOURCE Apollo.io