European Sponsorship Market Shows Marginal Increase According To New ESA Figures

The annual figure for the size of the European sponsorship industry in 2013 has risen to €26.05 billion, a slight increase on 2012 of 0.7%, according to figures just released by The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) .

The total sponsorship market in Europe, in Euro billions, was worth €23.3b in 2010, €26.5b in 2011, €25.9b in 2012 and €26.05b in 2013 - a percentage change of 0.7% on 2012. The sport to non-sport ratio for 2013 was 65:35. 

The Association reported that 2013 was a good year for many European countries, with the Nordics doing particularly well and the UK, Germany and France also enjoying growth. Some markets, including Italy, continue to decline with Poland and the Ukraine experiencing a slight drop post the European Championships.

Karen Earl, Chairman of ESA said that it was pleasing to see that France had recovered from a difficult year in 2012 and that the effect of the 2012 London Olympics in the UK shows that the same level of investment has been sustained. 

“It is encouraging for the UK to see brands which supported the Olympics and which may not have been traditionally involved in sponsorship, recognising the benefits and continuing their support post the event”.

Russia’s figures for 2013 showed a continued uplift from local sponsor investment in Sochi hosting the Winter Olympics at the beginning of 2014. 

The 2013 figures also show that non-sport sponsorship revenue remains strong. For the year, the ratio of sport versus non-sport sponsorship stands at 65:35. France has a particularly strong non-sport sector, making up 45% of the French sponsorship market.

Karen Earl added that growth in the Nordics provided good news for the European sponsorship market as a whole: “The Swedish Events & Sponsorship Association has reported a 6.4% growth, while Norway has seen a 3.1% increase and Finland 6.6%.

“In Poland there is evidence that a better understanding of sponsorship exists post the European Championships and sponsors are introducing more creative and innovative campaigns.”

There are encouraging signs globally for the sponsorship industry with IEG (www.sponsorship.com) reporting the global sponsorship industry rising 4.8% in 2013.

ESA’s figures cover all forms of sponsorship, excluding activation, for sports and non-sports across the 50 European countries.  

ESA used its network of European sponsorship associations, key agencies and members across Europe to derive individual country data.  The majority of the information for most of the countries was obtained through Repucom’s SponsorGlobe, which provides details of fees paid for sponsorship rights.