250B Reasons Why Brands Are Backing Sports

Fans are spending more time with sport than ever before. In 2024, over three trillion hours of professional sport were consumed globally a number that continues to grow.

That scale of attention is attracting major brand investment. Last year alone, brands spent $250B of their sponsorship and media budgets reaching audiences through sport.

But there’s still so much more opportunity to unlock.

Ten years ago, sponsorship accounted for 29% of spend targeting sports audiences. Today, it’s just 19%. Our data shows that brands allocating $1 to sponsorship for every $3 on media see stronger alignment with fan behaviour, deeper cultural relevance, and greater long-term impact than those focusing heavily on media alone.

We expect a $30B swing in the annual spend of brands buying sports audiences from media into sponsorship.

So, why has sponsorship lost ground to media?

The main barrier is the understanding gap between brand and property partners, what we call the ‘objectives divide’.

• 63% of brands say their property partners don’t fully understand their objectives.
• 75% of properties say the same of the brands they work with.

The brands that close this gap, by infusing intelligence into every layer of their sponsorship strategy will reap greater rewards.

What do we mean by intelligence? Quite simply, we believe in knowing fans best. The organisations with the most intimate understanding of the audiences they are striving to reach their behaviours, expectations, wants, and needs will be the ones who see the best return on their investments in sport.

What’s Inside the Report?

Sport is Thriving – Fans consumed 3 trillion hours of sport in 2024. That’s up 131% since 2021, and it’s on track to reach 4 trillion by 2034. Streaming and social are fuelling this boom.

Cutting Through Culture – The growth is being driven by athlete-influencers and elite teams and leagues. While social engagement is plateauing, video views continue to surge.

Brands Are Investing Big in Sports – Brands now invest $250B annually to reach sports fans, 19% via sponsorship, 81% via media. A decade ago, sponsorship accounted for 29% of this spend.

Finding the Balance Is Key – Digital is now 44% of all spend, praised for its personalisation and measurement. But many brands are rethinking how they balance media and sponsorship.

It’s Time to Reset the Mix – Too often, partnerships falter when objectives aren’t aligned or tracked. Open, measurable, and intelligence-led strategies are the key to success.

Every day, we reach 450 million fans through our property partners. Every year, we analyse 1.4 billion data points, run 1.3 million survey responses, and track 40,000 sponsorship assets across 67 markets. We’ve brokered $2.3 billion in deals between leading brands and top-tier properties.