New ESA Figures Double Size of European Sponsorship Industry

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) has launched new data which reveal that the size of the European sponsorship industry is far larger than had previously been estimated.

ESA figures place the value of the 2010 European sponsorship market at €23.33bn. Previously, the value had been estimated at €9.54bn.  

ESA’s figures cover all forms of sponsorship, excluding activation, for sports and non-sports across the 50 European Countries.  The ratio of sport to non-sport sponsorships is 70:30 with an anticipated rise in non-sport activities and values expected as brands take a wider view of sponsorship.

ESA used its network of European sponsorship associations, key agencies and members across Europe to derive individual country data. 

To clarify the data (attached), the following factors should be considered:

•             Sponsorships and events taking place in specific individual European countries show spend of €22.8billion. 

•             Pan-European events which cross boundaries (UEFA Champions League, for example), have been shown separately, as spend is attributed by sponsors differently across their European networks.

•             Europe also plays its part in global events - both in hosting and providing sponsorship monies from local offices.  To take this into account, but shown separately, ESA has made the following assumptions based on the main two global properties:

o             For the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, sponsorship spend by global partners is assumed to be over a four year period for FIFA and two years (Winter and Summer Games) for the IOC.  Europe’s contribution to these events has been equated to its GDP in relation to other continents, and where an event is hosted in Europe the contribution is increased

o             All local sponsors for the FIFA World Cup or the Olympic Games when hosted in Europe, for example London 2012, will be allocated for the year before and the year of the event in the host market.  Currently local sponsorship for London 2012 is in the region of £809 million and this will be allocated to the UK in 2011 and 2012

Moving forward, ESA intends to widen the reach for data collection, encouraging countries and agencies to provide data in the same format and enabling more local context.  It is anticipated that, as more data is collected, the industry figures will broaden.

The ESA figures will be announced annually in November and their aim is that they will become the recognised source of European sponsorship market size now and in the future.