UKSA’s Year in Sponsorship: Part 4 Six trends shaping football sponsorship in 2022: Sector continues to thrive despite economic and political headwinds

Football continues to be the hottest ticket in sponsorship. Despite a myriad of rival opportunities across sport, arts and the media, the combination of widespread media exposure, fan passion, star power and deep community penetration continues to exert extraordinary influence over brands.

The sport is also helped by the fact that there is such a broad array of entry points into the sport. While sponsoring the FIFA World Cup or securing a shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United is beyond most companies, there are hundreds of robust opportunities related to clubs, leagues, competitions, venues and individual players. From broadcast sponsorships to grass roots activations, football is an endlessly inventive field for sponsors to play on.

The world of soccer sponsorship is too vast to discuss in a single blog. But to celebrate the start of a new Premier League season, the UKSA team has identified the following six stories and trends as especially intriguing.

From shirt sponsorship to sleeves: The English Premier League has once again demonstrated its status as the world’s richest football league, with an eye-watering £2 billion outlay on player transfers. Not surprisingly, this has had a knock on effect on sponsorship valuations, with the Daily Mail estimating that Premier League clubs have generated around £460m in shirt sponsorships this season. One of the key trends here has been the emergence of shirt sleeves as valuable real estate in their own right. Manchester United and Chelsea, for example, banked £20 million each for sleeve specific deals. In total, Premier League shirt sleeve deals were worth more than £100m at the start of this year’s campaign. For those interested in drilled down stats, it’s interesting to note that the League’s top six clubs grabbed 71.5% of the total revenue generated by EPL clubs. One other story to watch is attempts by kit manufacturers to break the stranglehold of Nike, Adidas and Puma on top-flight football. Rising stars include Macron, which works with Crystal Palace, and Hummel, which works with Southampton FC. Under Armour and New Balance have also made moves on the EPL in recent years, but so far have not managed to shift the balance of power.

Digital giants stalk naming rights deals: One of the most sought after naming rights deals in soccer was completed earlier this year – when Spotify secured a long term contract with Barcelona’s Nou Camp for an undisclosed price. The hallowed stadium will now be known as the Spotify Nou Camp and comes in addition to shirt and training kit sponsorships. Meanwhile back in the UK, Amazon is reportedly the front runner to secure the naming rights at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium. At time of writing, the ecommerce giant was reported to be in negotiation over for a £250 million, 10-year partnership. It’s not clear exactly how these digital brands might leverage their bricks and mortar sponsorships – although the real opportunity centres around the people who pass through the stadia. O2, for example, has managed to use the Millenium Dome to build levels of engagement that go way beyond venue badging.

Women’s soccer gains momentum: The start of 2022 saw a welcome injection of cash into the women’s game. Firstly, there was a deal between the FA and Barclays, which doubled the bank’s investment in women’s football. Estimated at around £30m, it covered both the top two flights of women’s soccer as well as grass roots activities. Soon after, Visa struck a US$20m deal with FIFA which covers the 2023 Women’s World Cup and runs through until 2026. All of this activity was then reinforced by the success of the Women’s Euros which took place this summer. A huge success, especially for winners England, this brought in a new tranche of sponsors including Lego, Starling Bank, Pandora and LinkedIn. And just recently small business platform Xero has agreed to partner the FA to champion women in football.  In the next phase, England’s stars (and other top players during the tournament) are expected to achieve more valuable endorsement deals.

Esports schism triggers sponsorship boost: For the last three decades, EA Sports and FIFA have enjoyed a successful partnership around the FIFA video game brand. But disagreements over money and strategy mean FIFA 23 will be the last time the two work together. Afterwards, they will go their separate ways – each with its own gaming products and platforms. The competition between the two will be fascinating. FIFA clearly has the legacy brand, but it won't be able to lean into EA Sports’ expertise. EA Sports, meanwhile, has the know-how to create a great game, but it needs to convince gamers to migrate. In preparation, EA Sports has signed some high-profile sponsorships. Last month, it announced that EA Sports FC will be title sponsor of Spain’s La Liga from 2023/24 in a wide-ranging and immersive deal. In the UK, EA Sports has signed a three-year deal with SkySports that will see the gaming brand gain prominent exposure around live coverage of the Premier League. In related news, Major League Soccer (MLS) has also announced an extension of its partnership with EA that will see the league continue to license its IP to the games company after FIFA 23. While the FIFA/EA divorce is a highly-specific set of circumstances, it’s a good indicator of how the world of esports and football are becoming dependent on each other.

Bets are off on gambling sponsorship: Boris Johnson’s fall from grace had one unintended consequence – the postponement of a proposed legislative ban on gambling sponsorship. Back in July, Premier League clubs were on the verge of imposing a voluntary ban in response to the changing political climate. But the government’s postponement put that on the back burner. As a result, Everton, Fulham and Bournemouth all pushed ahead with gaming-based deals. New PM Liz Truss has had other things to think about in recent months – so her views on this matter are not well-known. But the likelihood is that she will, eventually, seek to revive plans for tighter regulation. One possible replacement revenue stream for football clubs is cryptocurrency-related firms – however the collapse of the crypto market in early 2022 may curtail that sector’s spending.

Sponsors ponder their approach to FIFA World Cup: Eight years ago, Marketing Week highlighted the commercial challenges that might arise from rescheduling the Qatar FIFA World Cup to winter – a season that doesn't really lend itself to fun-filled activations in Europe or the US. But here we are just a six weeks away from such an event. As it turns out, it’s not just the season that is now viewed as a potential problem – but Qatar’s record on human rights and homosexuality. While former footballer David Beckham has not been shy to associate himself with the event, the New York Times has suggested that some sponsors are wary about making too much of their association. In the run up to the event, the key companies to watch will be the likes of Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa, all of which are top-tier FIFA Partners. Each of these brands is at the forefront of society’s DEI debate and will need to tread carefully around Qatar.

Interested in entering the UK Sponsorship Awards? The 2023 edition of this prestigious annual event is now open for entries. There are two dedicated categories for Football Sponsorship, as well as plenty of other categories where football sponsorships have a history of doing well. For more details on the awards event and how to enter, visit the official UKSA website.

Next Time: The Power of Grass Roots Sports Sponsorship