Sports sponsorships continue to grow exponentially, with a recent report estimating spending in this sector will reach £48 billion by the end of 2024 – with the overall figure set to rise by 6% year-on-year from 2020.
Traditional sectors such as automation, financial services, airlines, and gambling currently account for just shy of 60% of sports sponsorship in the UK. Yet, new industries are now seeing sport as an avenue to market their products; but what are these deals? And is this trend likely to continue in the years to come?
Horse Racing
Horse Racing remains one of the most viewed sports in the UK, and this has resulted in new sectors sponsoring some of the year’s biggest events. Arguably the biggest race in the UK – the Grand National, has been sponsored by healthcare giant Randox since 2017, with this sponsorship deal recently being extended until 2026.
An estimated 500-600 million people watch the Grand National worldwide, showing the attraction that the race has for potential sponsors. The Grand National ante-post betting with Betfair has already seen over £100,000 wagered on the event, and this will only increase as we get closer to raceday, where both the casual and experienced gambler identifies their Grand National selection.
The huge pull that the Grand National has in the UK goes some way to identifying Randox’s motives for sponsoring the race. Its supporting races; the Randox Foxhunters Chase and Randox Topham Chase, are both run over the famous Grand National fences.
Football
Football sponsorship is becoming as important to clubs as results on the pitch. Landing the best deal can ensure sides will be able to operate with more authority in the transfer market and can, in turn, help to transform the club into a global brand.
In the UK, Manchester United remain the dominant force in terms of sponsorship deals – with their current shirt sponsorship deal with car manufacturer Chevrolet worth around £70 million a year. The recent Deloitte Football Money League placed Manchester United fourth on their list of the top 20 clubs. Manchester United’s kit manufacturer deal is also the largest in the UK, with their £75 million Adidas contract the largest in English football.
In terms of tournament sponsorship, the first major English competition to negotiate a sponsorship deal was the League Cup, which negotiated a £2 million deal with the National Dairy Council back in 1982. Since that first foray into English tournament sponsorship, figures have got exponentially larger, with all major English competitions now having been sponsored in some form.
The deals mentioned above show that sponsorship levels in UK sport are now larger than ever before. Be it Randox’s sponsorship of Britain’s most famous race, or Chevrolet’s sponsorship of what can arguably be described as Britain’s most famous football team, there is certainly a clamour for businesses to sponsor successful sporting events and sides. Moving forward, expect this trend to continue for at least the foreseeable future.
