UK sports sponsorship market tops 450m

The UK sports sponsorship market has topped 450m for the first time according to research from Ipsos MORI’s Sportscan…

The UK sports sponsorship market has topped £450m for the first time according to research from Ipsos MORI’s Sportscan.

Last year the market was worth £451m, an increase of 5.37% on 2005. Forecasts suggest the market could grow by at least a further £3.8m this year, even without the Olympics, after deals were signed between Barclays Bank and English Football Premier League, Clydesdale Bank and Scottish Football Premier League, and npower and cricket’s home-test matches and Twenty20 Cup.

Simon Lincoln, sports and sponsorship senior researcher at Ipsos says: “With some, if not all, the top tier sponsors to be in place by the end of 2007, the 2012 Olympics are clearly going to impact massively on the UK sports sponsorship market with immediate effect. However, indications are that in real terms, the market is also set to perform strongly this year.”

According to the research many smaller scale sports are being snapped up on the back of the ‘Olympics effect’, and online gambling has filled the gap left by the withdrawal of tobacco firms in the sports sponsorship market.