State of Sponsorship 2022
Following the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sponsorship industry is making a comeback. On the surface, our industry is healthy, and while the external factors have been impossible to ignore, the time has come for the industry to look within.
In this report, we bring to light the good, the bad and the unknown, to help sponsorship industry pros understand which trends are here to stay and how we can leverage consumer opinion to foster greater transparency.
Overview
Introduction
The sponsorship industry has been put through the ringer over the past few years with postponements and cancellations, format changes, furloughs, and layoffs, and ultimately managing the delivery of value in an increasingly uncertain time. Despite a significant contraction in the sponsorship industry throughout that time, it appears to be rebounding in a big way.
Whether it be the investment of cryptocurrency and sport betting brands, the emergence of hobbies as professional sport businesses like disc golf or pickle ball, the introduction of NFTs and new streaming and content offerings, or the increasing exposure of women's sport that it has always deserved, there are many reasons to be bullish about the industry’s future.
We set out to provide a comprehensive view on the state of the sponsorship industry to identify and address some of the biggest questions that we grapple with by bridging both the industry and consumer perspective. We first surveyed 217 sponsorship professionals from over 200 unique organizations, 15 countries and at varying levels of seniority. Then, we surveyed 1,771 consumers from 14 countries across the globe to provide insight on where there are commonalities and differences.
The 2022 State of Sponsorship report paints a positive picture of the current health and future potential of the industry. A healthy industry, poised for growth and becoming more critical to the marketing mix. The challenges? There are concerns of clutter, measuring return on investment and discrepancies between industry and consumer perspective to name a few. But in my opinion, the biggest challenge this report reveals is an overwhelming lack of transparency and trust. If most professionals don’t trust one another, how can the industry continue to grow at the current rate?
CEO @ SponsorPulse™
The Good
Industry professionals and consumers agree that sponsorship works, it’s here to stay and there are lots of growth opportunities on the horizon.
Perceived Health of the Sponsorship Industry
of industry professionals believe the industry is in a healthy state, particularly industry veterans with 10+ years experience (76%)
Perceived Health of the Sponsorship Industry
% Selected, among total
Top 5 Reasons For Industry Health
Unprompted, there are five common themes that surface driving optimism for the health of the industry
Top 5 Reasons For Industry Health
% Mentions, among those who selected V/SW healthy
27% Bouncing back after COVID / post-COVID
19% Lots of opportunity / deals being signed / brand eager to be involved
19% New technologies / formats / innovations / more digital
14% New brands / categories eg. Crypto on the market
12% Money is available / budgets are allowing it
Sponsorship Impact on Consumers
consumers agree that sponsorship has a positive impact on brands involved
Agreement with Sponsorships Statements (Consumer)
% Strongly Agree/Agree, among total consumers
Benefits of Sponsorship
There’s general alignment between consumers and industry professionals on the top benefits of sponsorship
Top Ranked Sponsorship Benefits
- Brand equity / perceptions
- Brand awareness
- Purchase conversion
- Brand understanding / comprehension
- Corporate responsibility
- Hospitality/entertaining
- Employee engagement
- Increasing my awareness of the brand
- Increasing my consideration of purchasing, using, or visiting the brand
- Increasing my understanding of what the brand does or stands for
- Increasing my feelings or attitudes towards the brand
- Increasing my view that the brand is a good corporate citizen
Technology's Impact on Sponsorship
of industry professionals agree that the industry is embracing innovation and creativity
Evolution in content delivery, NFTs and augmented reality are among the top technologies creating waves within the industry
Technologies That Will Have the Biggest Impact in the Next 3 Years
% Selected, among total
Consumer Interest in Specific Technologies
Consumers are actively participating and / or interested in the innovation coming to the sponsorship world
Agreement with Sponsorships Statements (Consumer)
% Active / Interested, among total consumers
Properties Leading the Way in Creativity and Innovation
The NBA, WNBA and their respective teams rise to the top as the sport leading the way in creativity and innovation, followed by soccer leagues and teams, the NFL and Formula One.
% Total Mentions
Industry vs Consumer on Property Innovation
The NFL and NBA leagues are neck-in-neck in industry mentions, but the consumer perspective is quite different as they call out sports versus particular leagues or teams.
Industry vs Consumer on Properties Leading the Way in Innovation
- 29% NFL
- 28% NBA
- 22% Formula One
- 11% English Premier League
- 8% Esports/Gaming
- 19% Soccer
- 4% Cricket
- 3% NBA
- 3% NFL
- 3% Basketball
Industry vs Consumer on Brand Innovation
At a brand level, Nike is the undisputed #1 ranked brand in sport sponsorship, while Adidas and Red Bull rank with industry and consumers
Industry vs Consumer on Brands Leading the Way in Marketing Creativity / Innovation
- 30% Nike
- 18% Red Bull
- 13% Crypto / Crypto.com
- 10% Adidas
- 11% Nike
- 7% Adidas
- 5% Coca Cola
- 3% Pepsi
- 2% Puma
- 2% Heineken
- 2% Red Bull
Growth of Women's Sport
Industry and consumers want to see more investment in women’s sports, while emerging alternative sports appear to be a significant opportunity with consumers.
Property with the Biggest Growth (Industry)
% Selected, among total industry
Would Like to See More Investment In (Consumer)
% Selected, among total industry
Brand and Property Accountabilites
Current Accountabilities
The industry is aligned on roles and accountabilities in sponsorship today
Current Party Accountability
% Selected, among total
Future Accountabilities
Looking forward, that general alignment remains true, but properties will be expected to take on greater accountability across the board
Future Party Accountability
% Selected, among total
The Bad
There’s concern over the amount clutter in sponsorship and in measuring attribution and return on investment. These concerns are widespread and may be contributing factors to an overarching lack of transparency felt by industry professionals that headlines this section.
Transparency
agree that sport sponsorship lacks transparency, particularly among professionals with 6-10 years experience (71%)
Biggest Challenges For Brands Investing In the Industry
% Selected, among total
Biggest Challenges For Properties Seeking Investments
Similarly, properties face the same challenge of delivering and demonstrating value to partners
Biggest Challenges For Properties Seeking Investments
% Selected, among total
On the Brighter Side
The positive is that there are several tools working toward helping the industry address the issue of transparency through measurement
Current Method of Uncovering True Market Value of Sponsorship/Asset
% Selected, among total
Impact of Sponsorship Assets
Of 11 unique sponsorship assets, industry professionals believe digital content, athlete activations and title sponsorships drive the greatest return on investment.
Assets that Provide the Best Return on Investment
% Selected, among total
Industry vs Consumers on Impactful Assets
But consumer perspectives differ on the most impactful assets, with event title sponsorships, charity partnerships and promotions and prizing claiming the top 3 spots
Top Ranked Assets Driving Impact
- Digital & video content
- Athlete-led activations
- League/series/event title sponsorship
- Front-of-shirt/uniform branding
- Experiential activations
- Stadium/arena naming rights
- Charity/community partnerships
- Pitch side/on-court/on-ice/on-field/venue advertising
- Promotions and prizing
- Additional kit/uniform branding (sleeve, jersey patch, shorts, etc.)
- Packaging & retailer presence
- Title sponsorship of an event or league
- Charity/community partnerships
- Promotions where you save money or have a chance to win a prize
- Logos elsewhere on the 'jerseys' 'kits' of athletes (sleeve, patch, shorts, etc.)
- Logos on the front of the 'jerseys' 'kits' of athletes
- Naming a stadium or arena
- Advertising beside, on, or near the court/pitch/surface of play
- Partnerships with individual athletes
- In-person experiences like games, product samples
- Digital & video content
- Integration on packaging & retail store presence
Sports compared to Other Forms of Entertainment
Sports is largely considered best-in-class in delivering awareness and ROI, but struggles significantly on whitespace/clutter
How Sports Compares to Other Forms of Entertainment
How Sports Compares to Other Forms of Entertainment
% Selected, among total
Category and Property Oversaturation
Among industry professionals, sports betting and cryptocurrency top the list of over saturated categories, while Soccer/EPL top the list on the property side
% Total Mentions
% Total Mentions
The Unknown
Are today’s growth drivers going to be sustainable into the future? How will the marketing mix continue to evolve? There are some important questions that both industry professionals and consumers are keeping an eye on.
Trajectory of the Sponsorship Industry
of professionals believe that we’ve yet to reach the peak of the sponsorship industry
Perceived Trajectory of the Industry
% Selected, among total
Evolution of the Industry
of sponsorship professionals feel the industry is undergoing an evolution with mixed undertones of optimism and concern
Positive Momentum for Trends
The industry senses positive momentum in favor of athletes and personalities, causes and culture
Positive Momentum for Trends
% NET Positive, among total
The Disconnect between Industry and Consumers
But there’s a disconnect between what the industry sees having the strongest momentum and what consumers want to see sponsors getting more involved in
Industry vs Consumer on Strongest Category Momentum
- Athletes / personalities
- Cause and charity
- Culture and lifestyle
- Sports teams
- Entertainment and music
- Sports leagues
- Amateur sport
- Cause and charity
- Amateur sport
- Entertainment and music
- Culture and lifestyle
- Sports teams
- Sports leagues
- Athletes / personalities
Perceived Growth Within Categories
Industry Perceptions
From a category perspective, cryptocurrency has the greatest perceived growth opportunity, more than double that of #2 ranked sports betting
Brand or Category with the Biggest Growth
% Selected, among total
Categories Likely to be Non-Existent
Ironically, some industry professionals believe there’s a chance that those top two growth categories become non-existent over the next three years
Consumer Perceptions
There’s a long way to go for those high growth categories to win over the minds and hearts of consumers
Positive Perceptions of Categories (Consumer)
% NET Positive, among Total Consumer
Content Delivery Preferences
Despite diversification in content delivery, consumers have a strong preference for live sports on the biggest screen through a traditional TV subscription
Live vs Recording
% Selected, Among Total Consumer
Technology Usage
% Selected, Among Total Consumers
Provider
% Selected, Among Total Consumers