Sports Sponsorship in 2025: Ten trends to watch

The impact of Covid-19 has probably passed – much to the relief of the mass participation sector. But advances in AI, the growing dominance of digital media, concerns about the environment and an uncertain political and economic landscape will continue to shape the marketing sector for the foreseeable future. For many brands and their agencies, 2025 may prove to be a make or break year.

All of which sounds daunting; but there is also much to look forward to for those involved in this dynamic and versatile sector. Here are some of the most exciting developments that are likely to shape sponsorship during the coming year.

Women’s sport in the ascendancy: 2025 looks set to be another great year for women’s sport and the sponsors that support it – Barclays and Metro Bank being a couple of prime examples. Sponsorship data platform Luscid says: “Women’s sports offer some of the most dynamic opportunities in sponsorship, with elite sports revenues projected to reach $1.3 billion in 2024. With 85% of industry leaders predicting double-digit growth over the next three to five years, this area of the sport and sponsorship arena is an interesting and compelling platform to focus on.” Key events in 2025 include the Women’s Euros, the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the Women’s Cricket World Cup in India. With increased media coverage and brand investment, 2025 should represent another step-change in women’s sport.

Drinks firms to double down on 0% investment: The phenomenal success of zero percent drinks like Guinness 0.0 has been a major talking points in the last year, and this is starting to impact on marketing spend. As Time Magazine noted in 2024 the Paris Olympics was “part of a trend of zero-alcohol beers being promoted via sport, including Heineken 0.0 with Formula 1 and Diageo Plc’s Guinness 0.0 at the Six Nations rugby tournament. Carlsberg A/S last year handed out 400,000 cans of French no-alcohol beer Tourtel Twist at the Tour de France.” Zero alcohol brands are growing fast – so expect to see more sponsorship activations in the coming year. It will also be interesting to see how regulators manage the blurred line between classic alcohol sponsorship and zero alcohol sponsorship.

Charity-funded mass participation to continue bounce back: In late 2024, Enthuse, a fundraising, donations and events registration tech provider, reported that the mass participation sector had bounced back from Covid-19: “The TCS London Marathon has had record breaking entries for its ballots for the last two years, and has also set new world records for fundraising,” said Enthuse. “The AJ Bell Great North Run has also seen its largest number of participants this year. These two major names lead the way, but the enthusiasm for mass participation and challenge events is across the board.” Nearly a quarter (23%) of the public have already signed up for a charity branded event in the next 12 months or chosen one and plan to sign up. Unless there is a new health emergency, the youth-skewing nature of mass participants makes it a great opportunity for forward-looking sponsors looking to make a mark.

Tech-powered sponsorship decision-making the new normal: The team at Luscid expects the use of data to be a major trend in sponsorship this year. According to Luscid: “With predictive analytics set to reach $46.5bn by 2030, data-driven insights are becoming fundamental to how brands approach partnerships. This shift represents a new stance in sponsorship strategy, where informed decisions lead to stronger partnerships. By analysing thousands of data points across markets, industries and audience behaviours, brands can now identify partnerships that truly align with their objectives.” This shift towards data-powered decision-making comes at a time when Generative AI is also spreading its tentacles across most business sectors. The expectation is that AI will allow brands to understand audience preferences more deeply, enabling them to build authentic and relatable sponsorship programmes.

Digital-first/sport hybrid franchises represent new opportunities for sponsors: The Drop, a web publication that focuses on digital first content creation, notes that “the last year has seen increasingly close collaboration between the world of sport and the realm of digital-first talent. The use of influencers in Paris 2024 Olympics coverage, Logan Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson and news that The Sidemen are going to take their charity match to Wembley are all symptomatic of this trend.” In the same way that esports has become integrated into the fabric of traditional sport, there is evidence that this blossoming partnership between sport and digital talent is now becoming formalised – rather than a series of eye-catching spectacles. Golf’s PGA Tour, for example, announced that it is expanding its one-off Creator Classic (launched in 2024 with Blackstone as sponsor) into a series of three Creator Series events. The rationale for these new hybrids is to reach younger audiences – which makes them an intriguing new opportunity for sponsors looking for an entry point into sports sponsorship. As a more general observation, social media platforms are becoming an increasing important part of the live sports landscape for rights holders and sponsors.

Sponsorship to help EV manufacturers win hearts and minds: After a bright start, the EV revolution has stalled. Manufacturers have experienced a slowdown in sales and are scaling back investment as a result. Cost is part of the problem, but there has also been a steady stream of negative invective about EVs that has dented consumer confidence. This is where sponsorship can play a role. Manufacturers have no option but to persuade consumers to shift towards electrification, so they need to improve their story-telling. They need to use all the tools in sponsorship’s armoury to present the case for EVs in a positive light. Chinese manufacturer BYD has shown the way by partnering UEFA, but expect more engagement between EVs, sponsors and sport.

From consumer activism to purpose-driven decision-making: Brands and rights holders are both having to think hard about what they stand for and the authenticity of their relationships. This is evident in a couple of ways. Firstly, consumers are becoming increasingly vocal about the kind of sponsors they are willing to sanction. Arguably this is more of an issue in the arts than sport, but there’s no question that sports rights holders need to pay attention to fan attitudes towards certain sectors. Oil & Gas has borne the brunt of this issue but a growing array of brands are finding themselves in the spotlight. To cite one example, Barclays found itself having to pull out of its summer festivals sponsorships over alleged links to Israel. At the same time, brands are also becoming more purpose-driven in their sponsorship decision-making. Increasingly rights holders need to be able to demonstrate CSR and ESG-based values if they are to secure much-needed funding from brands. Both of these dynamics will continue to be hallmarks of the sponsorship sector in 2025.

English Premier League will need to wean itself off gambling sponsorships: The Sponsor editor Sean Connell has just written a piece for City AM in which he points out that the gambling sponsorship ban for Premier League clubs is looming – and that this might create a new opportunity. “Of the 11 clubs that have chosen to take the money while they can, none have made any meaningful progress in their succession planning. A long overdue market correction is imminent, which will significantly lower the barriers to entry and provide an opportunity for non-gambling brands to benefit from Premier League sponsorship at reduced rates.” Elsewhere, Connell also anticipates further sponsorship investment by luxury brands. Current examples include LVMH (Paris Olympics, Formula 1), Chanel (The Boat Race) and Louis Vuitton (America’s Cup). Typically, says Connell, “where one industry leader goes, others follow. Expect more luxury brands to target sports sponsorships in 2025.”

A List rights holders will continue to put squeeze on sponsors: In 2024, UKSA wrote about the growing trend for in-demand rights holders to pack more brands onto their sponsorship ‘real estate’. The best example is Premier League shirts, which are starting to resemble F1 cars. The team at SponsorPulse has seen an adjacent trend which it discusses in its own New Year forecasts – a shift towards shared exclusivity. “We’ve started to see leagues and teams adopt a non-exclusive model; the general idea being that more partners per category can deliver incremental revenue.” SponsorPulse notes that this can be a risky strategy, with the value of individual sponsorships being reduced. But it seems highly likely that rights holders will continue to pursue any opportunity that can increase revenues. At very least, expect to see the parameters of exclusive categories narrow to accommodate more brands (ie the way official drinks partner has evolved into beer, spirits, champagne partners etc).

Sponsorship to address the employee engagement challenge: Another intriguing theme identified by SponsorPulse is the role that sponsorship measurement can play in employee engagement and satisfaction. The company says: “The post-covid work era has seen some employers offer ultimate flexibility with work-from-anywhere mandates, while others demand in-person attendance. In either case, most employers have an employee engagement challenge. The good news is that sponsorship is a significant driver of employee attraction, favourability, pride, and retention.” SponsorPulse argues that brands will “start to place a greater emphasis on activating internally with employees, while beginning to measure awareness and impact of their sponsorships internally to ensure they’re maximising the benefit of investments.”

There’s just one week left to enter the 2025 UK Sponsorship Awards (deadline January 23rd). Brands, agencies, rights holder, charities and other sponsorship stakeholders can enter campaigns right now via the UKSA website. Shortlisted entries will be celebrated at UKSA’s gala awards event, which will be held on March 25^th, 2025, at the London Marriott Hotel. Grosvenor Square. For more details on UKSA categories, criteria and entering, visit the website via this link. And keep your eyes open for new editorial insights related to the sponsorship industry over the coming weeks.