Report: UK Sports Sponsorship Spending Rising, But Vunerable
A new report that examines the U.K. sports sponsorship market was released today and concludes that sports funding in Britain will increase over the next 4 years because of two major events: the Olympic Games (London 2012), targeting sponsorship worth 600m pounds, and the Commonwealth Games (Glasgow2014). However it says, these events could temporarily divert funds from the regularly sponsored sports led by football and Formula1 racing.
Alcohol sponsorship could eventually be banned -- as tobacco has been --but this is only at the early debating stage. The variety of companies eager to sponsor sport is illustrated by the list of 'Partners' backing London 2012, which includes Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Samsung, adidas and British Airways (BA). The Partners will be hoping that the 2012 Games run smoothly, but volatility is integral to professional sport and is fundamental to the excitement that attracts sponsors in the first place.
The abstract goes on to list a few examples of "volatility," which didn't exactly send us rushing out to purchase the $828 report. Nevertheless, we thought we would share the news with you.
photo credit via flickr: Trodel
"These two sports account for more than 50% of sports sponsorship spending in a market otherwise fragmented across dozens of sports for potential sponsoring, each offering sponsorship opportunities for leagues, cups, teams, individuals or even stadium sponsorships (e.g. Arsenal Football Club's [FC's] Emirates stadium)," the report goes on to say.
