Jersey sponsorship vs. Credit crunch: 1:0 10 Nov 2009

London, 10 November 2009. Football jersey sponsorship is defying the credit crunch and has stabilised across the top European leagues* at EUR 395.5 mill. This is a result from the eleventh edition of the European Jersey Report by global sports marketing consultancy SPORT+MARKT.

The FA Premier League suffers a slight drop of a mere two million and again comes in second with EUR 83.5 mill. Despite new deals for many Premier League clubs, the credit crunch still has a heavier impact on the U.K. than other markets, as the spiralling decline of the pound against the Euro meant another overall drop in income. “With the upcoming record deals of Manchester United and Liverpool next season, we will surely catch up with the Bundesliga again!“ states Gareth Moore, International Sales Director of SPORT+MARKT. But he emphasises the challenge of the Premier League: “English top clubs achieve
the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in the world, but the gap between top and bottom is still significant. The deals of the lower placed teams are at the same level as some top Second Bundesliga deals.”

A key development on the Premier League landscape has been the mass influx of betting providers to assume expiring club jersey sponsorship deals. While last year only two sponsors were betting companies, this year, the number has increased to seven. Moore: “Shirt sponsorship guarantees that betting companies reach their target group – football fans. In England, we profit from the global success and popularity of our league which makes it highly attractive for international sponsors.” On a European scale, we see the same shift of industry sectors amongst the sponsors. The betting industry is willing to fill the gap which other sponsors leave – this season, EUR 56.4 mill. marks an impressive investment. Especially taking into consideration, that it is achieved without the strong German league, where betting sponsors are still facing legal restrictions.

The English and Spanish leagues are profiting from this development, as are betting companies: “Global platforms allow betting
companies to overcome legal barriers and provide them with access to the global football community, including markets like Germany or China.”
In addition to the German Bundesliga, also the Italian, Spanish, and Dutch league were able to defy the financial crisis and recorded overall gains. Shirt sponsorship across Europe would have increased its value immensely, if there had not been the immense loss in French Ligue 1 of EUR 12.2 mill. Along
with the advertising ban on betting companies, French clubs also have to deal with restrictions for alcohoic beverages. In addition to those legal disadvantages, they partly create their own problems with the high number of jersey partners, instead of one exclusive partner.