Max Verstappen sponsor Jumbo evaluating future sports deals after money laundering investigation

Dutch-Belgian supermarket chain Jumbo, a sponsor of Max Verstappen, are reportedly evaluating their future involvement in sporting sponsorships.

The company’s now-former chief executive, Frits van Eerd, stepped down from his position after being implicated in a money laundering investigation last year, after which Jumbo said they would evaluate some of their sponsorship activity and decide where to continue, with Verstappen an exemption from any motorsport cuts, thus continuing to be a client for 2023.

“Motorsport did come to us in a special light,” new Jumbo CEO Ton van Veen previously told Algemeen Dagblad in the Netherlands in January. “That also affects our sponsorship in motorsport. We will not continue with that for long.

“We will look critically at our activities in motorsport in the same way. An exception is the contract with Max Verstappen.”

Jumbo commissioned an independent investigation into themselves surrounding the case, which found they were ‘not involved in anything nationwide’ and the company itself had no financial irregularities, including the contract they hold with Verstappen.

But a new report from AD claims the company is looking at its sporting sponsorship portfolio outright, including its sponsor deal with the Red Bull driver, and debating whether or not to continue in its endeavours on that front from 2024 onwards.

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Jumbo had been investing in sports sponsorships, including via Van Eerd’s ownership of an LMP2 team, Racing Team Netherlands, and through sponsoring individual athletes across multiple sports, including their logo appearing on Verstappen’s racing helmet, as a way of building brand awareness – though the company are now reconsidering their approach and may end their involvement in sport.

Verstappen has a multitude of other sponsors across Formula 1, having signed a lucrative deal with EA Sports prior to the beginning of the 2023 season, along with partnerships with the likes of Viaplay, TAG Heuer and Dutch TV channel Ziggo Sport.