How sponsorship impacts football clubs

Have you ever wondered why there is so much corporate sponsorship from brands that don’t, on the surface, have anything to do with football? Before we get into that, let’s have a quick look at how this multi-million-pound industry began.

In the UK, the history of sponsoring football took off in the 1970s when brewer Watney Mann helped finance the Watney Cup. At the same time, the Ford Motor Company paid for the Ford Sporting League and oil giants Texaco followed suit with the Texaco Cup.

But the modern incarnation of sponsorship, that which has sustained to the present, didn’t begin until 1982: The Dairy Council paid £2,000,000 to sponsor the League Cup (aka ‘the Milk Cup’) and the genie was out of the proverbial bottle.

Fast forward to 2020, the five big leagues’ sponsorship deals amounted to a staggering £3.3.bn according to KPMG. And a third of that revenue comes solely from the sponsors’ logo worn on football shirts.

There is no doubt that football sponsorship is a highly lucrative business. But who really benefits from all of this?

Here we’ll take a look at football sponsorship in greater detail. For example, how the money is put to good use, who the big spenders are and why football sponsorship is here to stay.

How does the sponsor benefit?

Most of the time, football sponsorship isn’t an overt way of generating revenue such as advertising goods or services. So you might be asking yourself why corporations pour so much money into a club for what appears to be little in return. 

Sponsorship is, largely, more covert: it relies on constant exposure to make the brand an inseparable part of a team or an event. By being associated with a high-profile event a brand gains both a new audience and positive recognition simply by being involved.

This in turn can have a drip-down effect on the consumer. A consumer is far more likely to buy from a business it likes which will, ultimately, generate revenue.

But it’s also worth noting that some sponsors benefit in real-time.

For example, Coca-Cola’s corporate sponsorship deal with FIFA may randomly inspire a fan to buy a pack of Coke after a match. And exposure to casino sites such as Crazy Time Casino may spontaneously result in a fan hitting the slots for some half-time entertainment.

How does a club or event benefit?

The obvious answer is a whole lot of money to put back into the club or event. Of course, more cash means more spending power for better players, better equipment, better coaching and so on.

There is more to it though, on a grassroots level there will be more funds to encourage younger players to get into the sport. Better equipment, coaches even pitches will add quality to the experience. 

In addition to benefitting physical health, team sports can have a positive effect on mental health too. And sponsorship can be of huge benefit to the wider community too, especially those on lower incomes.

What are the biggest sponsorship deals in history?

In the UK, the Premier League attracts the most sponsorship. The largest to date is Emirates sponsorship of Arsenal FC in North London.

The deal was first signed in 2004, renewed in 2018 and is worth in the region of £200,000,000. If that seems like a staggering figure, it’s worth putting it into some sort of context regarding how it’s of benefit to Emirates.

Firstly, for Arsenal fans, Emirates will have become a preferred airline brand which will result in a portion of Emirates ROI (Return of Investment). And bear in mind that the Premier League is a global consideration, that’s exposure to a combined audience of 1.4 billion!

However, arguably the most famous sponsorship deal in football is that of the FIFA and Coca Cola.

This global soft drink brand has been involved with football sponsorship since 1978, almost when the concept was in its infancy. In the five years between 2007 and 2012, Coca-Cola spent an eye-watering £290,000,000 on its corporate sponsorship of FIFA.

Subsequently, some people will automatically associate the Coca-Cola brand with FIFA, which is priceless. And they also have a partnership with Panini, the manufacturer of highly collectable football ephemera, most famously, their stickers.

So, Coca-Cola gets both the long-term and immediate advantages of sponsorship. Online casinos such as Bwin, who sponsored both AC Milan and Manchester United, will also benefit from both these advantages when it comes to sponsorship too. 

It might not be obvious why a corporation that has nothing to do with football, let alone sport, would spend so much on sponsorship. But the advantages of doing so are plain to see and, get it right, everyone’s a winner.

And not just the sponsor. The club, the fans and the local community can all benefit from a well-managed sponsorship package.  

How sponsorship impacts football clubs