Sponsorship spend  forecast to top $62.8bn in 2017, with Asia leading the growth

By Paul Nicholson

January 31 – Spending on sponsorship globally is forecast to increase to $62.8 billion in 2017, according to IEG’s 32nd annual forecast of sponsorship growth. This would be a jump of 4.2% on the $60.1 billion spent in 2016.

Sports will make up 70% of that total sponsorship figure though IEG does point to uncertainty in market for big-spending corporate sponsors, particularly around the Trump election and Brexit. Economic factors of energy prices (energy companies are big sponsors globally) and any cap or restriction on the outward growth of Chinese trade would also impact the market.

The report predicts that globally advertising spend will grow at the same rate as sponsorship spend.

An inhibitor of sponsorship growth – football should take note – is the “gap between sponsor expectations and properties’ ability to deliver when it comes to both personalized marketing opportunities based on audience data, and valuable digital content and platforms.”

Looking regionally, Asia will grow the fastest with sponsorship spend reaching a projected $15.7 billion, a 5.8% increase. This compares to a $16.7 billion spend in Europe. Asia grew by 5.7% last year, driven by Chinese expansion.

This bodes well for Asian football and the Asian Football Confederation in particular. The challenge for them will be to keep that sponsorship money in the region rather than seeing it spent on Europe’s giant clubs.

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View the report at http://www.sponsorship.com/IEGSR/2017/01/04/Sponsorship-Spending-Forecast–Continued-Growth-Ar.aspx

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