football

Some Of The Biggest Sponsors In The Football World

February 14, 2023 1:54 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Sports sponsorships are a lucrative business. By 2027, the global sports sponsorship market is expected to reach almost $90 billion, with the United States playing a predominant role in this industry’s growth through commercially successful sponsorships in leagues like the National Football League (NFL) and National Basket Association (NBA).

For example, some sponsors for the 2022/23 NBA season include Microsoft, Nike, Wilson, and Google. In international sports sponsorship markets, such as the United Kingdom, football is one of the biggest sports a company can infiltrate.

Sponsorship Opportunities In Football

Football is one of the biggest sports in the United Kingdom, and according to Sporting Index, the English Premier League brings in an annual audience of 4.7 billion. This popularity has led many companies to sponsor the home stadiums for teams in the Premier League, such as Etihad Airways (Manchester City) and King Power (Leicester City). King Power is a Thai-based travel retail group.

Businesses can also sponsor teams and athletes. Over the years, we have seen everyone from Puma sponsoring Manchester City and Nike sponsoring Liverpool FC to Hugo Boss partnering with Tottenham Hotspur to become its Official Formalwear Partner.

Before the fashion brand partnered with Tottenham, Hugo Boss partnered with striker Harry Kane. Kane became one of Hugo Boss’ brand ambassadors in March 2018, and sponsoring/partnering with athletes is another way companies can generate brand awareness within the football community.

We commonly see retail brands like Hugo Boss and Nike and airlines such as Etihad Airways sponsoring football properties. However, cryptocurrency exchanges and online gambling companies have also made their presence known in this market over the years.

And many of these organizations have generated brand awareness through football in the United Kingdom in other ways. For example, companies can partner with clubs to have their branding put on substitution boards. That is an excellent opportunity for awareness, as cameras often zoom in on referees holding these signs up during substitutions.

For example, Buzz Bingo did this in 2019, joining Falkirk FC as the team’s Player Substitution Partner. Falkirk FC is a Scottish professional football team competing in Scottish League One. Buzz Bingo is an online bingo site offering UK classic slot games like Rainbow Riches, jackpot games such as Reel King Mega, and various online game promotions like welcome bonuses for desktop and mobile gaming.

In February 2019, Falkirk FC announced its partnership with Buzz Bingo, which gave Buzz Bingo an opportunity for more awareness and allowed Falkirk FC to achieve some of its corporate objectives through this partnership.

What Are The Requirements For Sponsorship?

From a business perspective, companies need to consider their sponsorship fit before they make a deal. This includes typicality fit, geographic fit, and image fit. For example, typicality fit refers to ensuring a sponsor’s products match the characteristics of the property they are sponsoring. An excellent example is Puma sponsoring Manchester City for the 2022/23 Premier League season.

Since Puma sells football boots, the two organisations have a good sponsorship fit. Similarly, EA Sports is a sponsor of Manchester City, and EA Sports is the gaming company behind the popular football simulation video game FIFA. Again, this means there is a typical fit between EA Sports and Manchester City.

Additionally, companies want to ensure a complimentary fit when considering a sponsorship. That means a company wants to fit in with the other property sponsors. For example, multiple beverage companies, such as Budweiser and Coca-Cola, were sponsoring the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Where Is The Football Sponsorship Market Heading In The Future?

Businesses can take many new avenues if they want to generate brand awareness through football sponsorships. For instance, women’s football is on an upward trend. It is no secret that the top teams in the English Premier League get significant commercial attention, which makes it a highly competitive market for companies looking to enter into sponsorships with them. However, women’s football is starting to gain as much attention.

For example, the 2022 Women’s UEFA Euro tournament generated more than 450 million cumulative social interactions, with the majority of this interaction taking place on TikTok and Twitter, 38.7% and 21.1%, respectively. Looking at these figures, it is evident that the interest in women’s football is there, but the sport as a business still has a long way to go.

However, those companies that capitalise on this upward trend during the early stages are likely to see considerable benefits in the football sponsorship world. For instance, EA Sports recently put the first female football player (Australia’s Sam Kerr) on its FIFA 23 video game cover. The gaming giant received positive reactions from the women’s football community for this.

 

Sponsoring sports properties, from teams and stadiums to the athletes themselves, is an excellent opportunity for businesses to achieve corporate and marketing objectives like brand awareness and brand loyalty. These sponsorships also allow companies to increase their social media reach and frequency.

While the NFL and NBA dominate the US market for sponsorships, football leads the UK market. While many businesses target the English Premier League, companies can sponsor several other leagues, such as the Scottish League One and women’s football.

Categorised in:

This post was written by Powered by thefootballforum.net

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *