Sports sponsorship drives recovery of European football

Last update 23 July, 2022 por Alberto Llopis

The Covid-19 crisis had a very strong impact on the coffers of European clubs. At the worst moment, more than 9.000 million dollars in sponsors, something that put the football business on the tightrope. Por esa razón, the recovery that sports sponsorship is going through is essential to forget the numbers in the red.

In the XXI century, everyone is clear about what sports sponsorship is. It is about the contribution made by companies, to link your brand to a certain club, tournament, or player, with the aim of harnessing the values ​​and image of sport, as well as get closer to your target audience.

Clear, that the pandemic affected the sales of these companies, what drastically reduced their sponsorship contributions affecting the clubs and championships. An example is in La Liga, that during the last years accumulated a great amount of sponsors, as the case Sports between campaigns 2014 y 2019. But with the coronavirus crisis, recorded losses that reached 892 millions of euros, according to the economic report presenting, after the campaign 2020-2021.

Now in the midst of the recovery that is taking place in all markets, highlights the resurgence of sports sponsorship in football, something the clubs are looking forward to improving their economic figures.

Benefits of sports sponsorship

Sin duda, football and all sports in general need sponsors to survive and after a crisis such as Covid-19, sports sponsorship becomes even more relevant. It is a perfect combination, why brands benefit from this advertising, since they have greater visibility, exposure and familiarization.

For your part, the clubs, tournaments and even players, take advantage of these sports sponsors for economic benefit, but they can also carry out different plans or projects, it all depends on the goal you have set.

An example of the recovery that has been taking place in sports sponsorship, it shows La Liga. In the midst of the search to internationalize the brand, the Spanish championship reported in a statement, which will increase a 20% billing of the commercial area, with which they will even exceed the 120 millions of euros.

This is an important figure to boost the championship, after the bitter drinks due to the pandemic. La Liga currently reaches the 50 sponsor signatures, some exclusive in the United States or in Latin America, as is the case of Sportium.

The arrival of Spotify to Barcelona

Other A great example of sports sponsorship is Spotify's agreement with FC Barcelona, that will help the Catalan club, in their difficult economic situation, as well as in the mission to remodel the Camp Nou.

Swedish media services company Spotify, will be the new shirt sponsor for the men's and women's first team of the FC Barcelona. Además, It will also contribute a sponsorship to the Camp Nou, then now the stadium will be named after this application for music playback via streaming.

Some unofficial figures say that nothing else in the first four years, el FC Barcelona will receive 60 million for the shirt sponsor and 20 million for the “naming” of the Camp Nou.

But this is only for the first part of the agreement, because in total signed seven years for the shirt and 12 around the stadium, with figures that will rise in the second tranche. Without a doubt, it is a sports sponsorship examples, that makes clear the relevance of these alliances in the future of the clubs.

Leading European clubs in revenue

beyond the crisis, the commercial income of some clubs was not affected, like the case of Manchester City, which is located in the first place in the ranking of European teams with the most income published by the company Deloitte.

This is another example of highly relevant sports sponsorship, why City reached 308 millions, only in business income and a total of 645 millions overall. Its main sponsors are state-owned companies from the United Arab Emirates: the airline Etihad Airways, y Etisalat.

This ranking has Real Madrid second with 640,7 million and of that amount, 318 million correspond to sponsors and marketing. To talk about sports sponsorship examples, it is worth noting that, in the jersey of the meringues, also ranks as sponsor, an airline, in this case Emirates. El top 5 of this ranking is completed, with Bayern, FC Barcelona y Manchester United.

The importance of sports sponsorship in football and all professional sports is increasing, so all the clubs hope that this post-pandemic resurgence will not stop.