Premier League sponsorship spend has hit a record £1.35bn for the 2023/24 season. Spend is driven by a mix of long-term investment from traditional brand sectors e.g. Emirates (Airlines), Standard Chartered (Banking), AIA (Insurance) and increasingly heavy spend from newer, digital first brand sectors including major uniform sponsorships from Expedia x Liverpool (travel tech), DXC x Manchester United (information technology), OKX x Manchester City (crypto exchange).
With the 2023/24 Premier League coming to an exciting conclusion and the 2024/25 buying cycle in full swing, we look at five key reasons why the Premier League continues to be a powerful global marketing platform for brands:
1. The Most Popular League, in the World’s Most Popular Sport
With a cumulative annual global audience of 2.7bn Premier League is still far and away the most popular sports competition in the world. Way out in front of its biggest football rival (Champions League, 1.7bn) and 2X bigger than the top non-football sports content (Formula One, 1.5bn).
This trend looks set to continue with the latest Premier League TV deals being the biggest ever, highlighting the ongoing demand from broadcasters around the world for Premier League content over other sports content including important strategic markets e.g. USA and Asia.
2. THE ‘Always On’ Sports Marketing Platform
The Premier League is a global entertainment phenomenon. A unique, “always-on” marketing platform – in which sponsors are placed in the epicentre – that delivers super-fast, mainstream reach and frequency around the world.
“On pitch” content is born out of 20 teams including Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea battling it out between themselves and smaller rivals in 380 games across 38 game weeks over a ten-month regular season spanning August-May.
“Off pitch” content feeds off the above, alongside the big spending summer transfer window. Fans are drawn in by a wide range of content – both official and unofficial from clubs, players, media, tabloids, sponsors, commercial partners, and user generated content.
Fans experience this phenomenon through a vast network of premium access points, spanning the real world, digital platforms, and social media. Major integrations with gaming (e.g., EA Sports, Fantasy Football) and sports betting fuel unparalleled buzz and social media interactions, creating a goldmine of brand engagement opportunities.
3. Premium IP Driving Credibility, Trust and Cultural Relevance
Partnering with Premier League IP is increasingly a go to marketing solution for many different brand sectors with a wide range of different goals and challenges.
From providing credibility and trust to young fintech brands seeking to give first-time buyers the confidence to transact, to providing an injection of cultural relevance to traditional brands, to lifestyle brands wanting to grow their customer base through Instagram influencers.
Premier League popularity is being leveraged far and wide and Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy, shows the strength of the Premier League clubs versus other football clubs in their ‘Football 50’ report with 9 of the top 20 clubs in the world now coming from the Premier League.
4. Unrivalled Digital Value Generated
Premier League digital content has become increasingly important to sponsors over the last decade, as a tool to heighten brand awareness around match days and piggy back the wider Premier League narrative on non-matchdays. The Premier League comes out on top versus all other global sports leagues, when considering digital value generated by fans.
The audience value takes into consideration the size and affluence of the audience alongside the quantity and performance of the social media posts related to the property across all platforms.
The digital power of the Premier League is unmatched, when comparing its digital value from fans against the other major global sports e.g. Premier League is 2x larger than F1 in cumulative TV audience, but 5x larger in digital value and is 3x bigger than the biggest US property (NBA).
Sponsors are capitalising on this digital goldmine through different types of content series’ including match full time, team lineup, behind-the-scenes posts and much more.
5. Wide Range of Unique Marketing Packages
Premier League marketing packages range from in-game assets, including front-of-shirt and sleeve sponsorship, LED, interview backdrops and stadium naming rights, to opportunities beyond the game, including influencer marketing, social, OTT broadcast and digital content.
This wide range of packages enables brands with diverse goals and budgets to find the perfect fit within the Premier League’s sponsorship ecosystem.
Looking to learn more about 2024/25 Premier League sponsorship opportunities in your brand sector? Get in touch with the SportQuake team.