Sponsorship is one of the key ways that sports leagues generate money, along with ticket sales and broadcasting rights. The growth of sponsorship is clear to see even for casual viewers. We see sponsors’ names all over stadiums, and even on the front of jerseys.
Did you know that some of the football team shirt sponsorships generate over $50 million annually for the teams involved? There are hundreds of millions of people tuning into matches in the Premier League and European competitions, for example. This means companies see sponsorship as a huge opportunity to spread the word about their products and services.
Gambling
Gambling is an industry that goes hand-in-hand with football and other sports. Of course, one of the key connections is the fact that people can gamble on everything from football matches to esports. Huge gambling brands are keen to align themselves with sports teams both as sponsors and as partners.
This doesn’t just mean sports gambling, either. There is a huge crossover between casino brands and sports fans, making sponsorship one of the key methods for companies to reach their demographics. Casinos are also keen to work with the biggest names in sports as brand ambassadors. For example, SunBet recently announced a deal to make former Liverpool and Real Madrid star Michael Owen their brand ambassador.
A casino. Photo/OddsChecker
The growth of gambling and gambling sponsorships has also been pushed forward by cryptocurrency gambling companies. A survey by YouGov entitled “Which industries are best suited for sports sponsorship?” names both gambling and cryptocurrency as
some of the most suitable, and now the two are combined. Users are turning to crypto to take advantage of the fast transactions and secure gambling options at Ignition online casino or other reliable platforms. The cryptocurrency gambling scene is already huge and estimates state that around 40% of all gambling transactions now take place in cryptocurrency. This means that the brands have a way to finance big sponsorships to further their reach. Expect to see the crypto gambling trend grow even further in football and extend into other sports.
Tech
The tech industry has always had a symbiotic relationship with sports. Many of the biggest industries in the world, such as computing and electronics, fall under the tech category.
Over the years we have seen many sponsorship deals with football teams and other sports teams revolving around the tech industry. Some of us are even old enough to remember Fiorentina having the iconic Nintendo logo on their shirts. One of the primary partners of Manchester United is now TeamViewer, which is software that helps people to remotely access other computers and devices.
In other sports leagues, tech sponsors also lead the way. For instance, in the NBA, sponsors that fall under the tech bracket include Microsoft and Rakuten. These sponsor the whole league rather than just individual teams within and serve as key financial partners.
Vehicles
Car brands have always played a big part in sports sponsorship. The 2022 World Cup saw Hyundai-Kia as one of the main sponsors of the whole tournament, and car brands have given the sporting world some famous kits and sponsorship deals. Chevrolet has recently sponsored Manchester United, and we’ve seen Opel on the front of kits for AC Milan and PSG.
It isn’t just shirt sponsorships where vehicle brands are one of the key players. In Shanghai, one of the biggest stadiums is the Mercedes-Benz Arena, which sold its naming rights to the car brand as they seek to boost awareness of Mercedes cars in the region. In Houston, the Toyota Center is one of the biggest arenas and is home to the Houston Rockets.
Telecom Brands
Vodaphone UK. Photo/Vodaphone UK
Telecom brands have led the way in sports sponsorship. Communications industries such as internet providers and telephone networks have become some of the biggest brands in the world. In the USA, we especially see telecom brands sponsoring sports. For instance, the huge 80,000-capacity stadium in Texas is called the AT&T Stadium and is home to the Dallas Cowboys.
We’ve also seen telecom brands sponsor sports teams in the UK. Vodafone is the principal sponsor of The British & Irish Lions rugby team, while EE is the main sponsor of the England football team.
Telecom brands are in constant competition with one another and looking for ways to raise brand awareness to try to take market share from their competitors. The huge
amount of revenue in this industry means that the companies are in a position to pay for the kind of exposure they get by aligning with these brands.
Conclusion
Big brands use sponsorship as part of their marketing campaign, raising their profile and exposing their products and services to new customers. In football, as well as other sports, there is a huge amount of kudos and credibility that also comes from being partnered with big teams like Manchester United or Barcelona, and this usually means a bidding war for the sponsorship, providing plenty of revenue for the teams in question.
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