Pelé
Three-time World Cup champion
Guinness World Record for career goals
FIFA Player of the Century
Pelé is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time. Across a career spent almost entirely with Santos FC and the Brazilian national team, he won three FIFA World Cups (1958, 1962, 1970) — a record no other player has matched — and was named FIFA Player of the Century in 2000, alongside Argentinian Diego Maradona. Beyond football, Pelé became one of the first athletes to achieve truly global commercial recognition, a status that endured for six decades and outlived his playing career by more than 45 years. He passed away in December 2022, leaving behind a commercial and cultural legacy spanning four continents.
How 1966 Americas helped
GLOBAL REACH
Rights consolidation across 50+ countries
CAPITAL RAISED
US$45M
THE GROWTH
2X revenue versus Pelé's prior World Cup cycle
LICENSING & IP MANAGEMENT | COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIP | FILM & TV PRODUCTION | EXHIBITIONS
By the 2010s, six decades of Pelé's commercial rights had fragmented across four separate agreements. 1966 Americas led an eleven-month consolidation, unifying them into a single global structure spanning partnerships, licensing, and cultural programming across 50+ countries — including brand partnerships with names like Coca-Cola, Subway and Hublot, and exhibitions positioning him as a living artist and cultural force in his own right, including Halcyon Gallery's Pelé: Art, Life, Football.
Commercial Partnerships
1966 Americas positioned Pelé's global presence to attract partnerships spanning consumer giants Coca-Cola, P&G, Volkswagen, and Subway, financial institutions like Santander, and luxury brand Hublot — creating commercial opportunities across consumer, financial, and luxury sectors
