The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) announced that the annual figure for the size of the European sponsorship industry in 2014 rose to €26.44 billion, an increase on 2013 of 1.5%.
The Association reported that different market conditions led to variations by country – the UK, Scandinavia and Austria being notable for their growth. The overall rise is in line with European (western and central Europe) adspend growth in 2014 of 2.4% (source Zenith Optimedia).
Karen Earl, Chairman of ESA said it was encouraging to see growth and that the Scandinavian market was remaining strong “We have seen Sweden taking revenue from traditional TV & newspaper advertising and growing by 2.3% and Norway increasing by 4.5%”.
Global events helped contribute to the European sponsorship market due to a large number of International Federations being based in Europe with FIFA World Cup revenues contributing despite the event being hosted by Brazil in 2014. Pan European events such as the European Games currently being held in Baku and also the Rugby World Cup 2015 will make more impact in 2015 figures.
The UK grew mostly through higher sponsorship deals for Premier League clubs which stimulated the market while Austria’s growth was due in part to Red Bull’s increased investment in FC Red Bull Salzburg.
Other regions experienced fluctuations with the Russian sponsorship landscape benefitting from extra revenue from Sochi’s 2014 Games but political issues in the Ukraine negatively affected high profile deals around football clubs for example.
When compiling the data, ESA noted that that the national figures tended to combine all forms of sponsorships, with feedback from local markets indicating that the volume of CSR and non-sports partnerships being healthy but sports revenues continue to grow at a faster rate.
There are also encouraging signs globally for the sponsorship industry with IEG (www.sponsorship.com) reporting the global sponsorship industry rising 4.1% in 2014.
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For further information, contact ESA on esaoffice@sponsorship.org or telephone +44 (0) 20 8390 3311.
Editor’s notes
ESA’s figures cover all forms of sponsorship, excluding activation, for sports and non-sports across the 50 European Countries.
ESA used its network of European sponsorship associations, key agencies and members across Europe to derive individual country data and is compiled on their behalf by Dentsu Aegis Network Sport & Entertainment. The majority of the sports sponsorship rights fees were obtained through Repucom’s SponsorGlobe.
About ESA
The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) exists to inspire, educate and raise standards within the sponsorship and wider marketing industry. As a membership association, ESA’s vision is to encourage consumer engagement through effective multi-channel marketing. Its many activities, which include policy, governance and corporate responsibility, education and training, information, networking and the ESA Excellence Awards, all have these goals as their core objectives. ESA’s reach encompasses all types of sponsorship activity from sport, broadcast, education, the arts and culture through to environment and the community. Its membership includes sponsors, rights holders, agencies and consultants, professional advisors and suppliers. Full details at www.sponsorship.org