Sponsorship has been and will always be one of the most important tools in marketing. More so in sports, as it gives an unparalleled exposure and a platform for unmatched engagement with a brands’ customers who also happen to be sports fans. The challenge for the sponsor is to identify the appropriate sports property and leverage it to maximize returns.
No wonder sponsorship industry is growing year-on-year. The 2026 ESA Sponsorship Market Overview released by European Sponsorship Association, produced by Nielsen Sports, reports the growth of European sponsorship market to €34.45bn in 2025, a 4.7% increase on 2024, with sports sponsorship accounting for 72% of that volume. Further, football takes the lion’s share of sports sponsorship money at 54% of the total, just over €13 billion. In 23/24, almost €6.4bn was attributed to commercial revenue aggregated by the ‘big five’ leagues. One can surely expect a higher figure in 24/25. Although this also includes non-sponsorship based incomes, but a larger share is generated through sponsorships.
Well into 2026, we have witnessed the of large number of first-time sponsors in the ‘big five’ leagues of European football. With a ban on gambling sponsors set to be introduced in the Premier League from 2026/27, football sponsorship is set to see several changes. This blog aims to give an overview of sponsors in European football in the 25/26 season and some key sponsorship trends expected in the coming season.
European Top-Tier Leagues
Commercial revenue, a large part of which is through sponsorships, aggregate approximately €9.7bn in FY24 for the 700+ top tier league clubs in European football and is set to cross €10bn mark in 2025. In sponsorship, the front-of-shirt, kit and sleeve remain the most coveted assets. To give a perspective, a rough calculation based on “reported” sponsorship deal values shows the combined sponsorship value of these three assets cover approximately 42% of the entire commercial revenue of the ten highest revenue generating clubs! If you consider only shirt sponsor, then the value share is approximately 16%.
For the ‘big five’ leagues, front-of-shirt sponsorship is the most sought after. The extent of Premier League’s global popularity can be seen from the fact that only 5% of the front-of-shirt sponsors in 25/26 are domestic companies. LaLiga comes the next closest to them in terms of internationalised f-o-s sponsorships with 45% of them being domestic companies.
Another interesting insight is the spread of industry categories present in the key asset across top division European leagues. In 25/26, betting and gambling firms still account for the highest number of deals with 24% presence share. That is followed by professional services with 12% f-o-s sponsorships and financial services firms who cover 11%, retail firms with 8%. The top 10 categories can be seen in the below given infographic.
Kit Sponsorship: Kit sponsorship is the other most sought-after category. For the big clubs, kit sponsors pay high value to be on their jerseys. In 24/25, based on the reported values, kit sponsorship accounted for almost 21% of the total revenue for the ten highest revenue-generating clubs! In return, the kit sponsors generate billions through shirt sales due to huge supporter demands. Naturally, there is considerable interest on the part of kit manufacturer to be associated with clubs.
In 25/26, Adidas, Nike and Puma together supply kits to 53% of all clubs in ‘big five’ leagues. Macron, Joma and Hummel form the next big block supplying to 21% of clubs. The chart below gives an idea of manufacturer’s association with clubs.
What are we likely to see in 26/27?
Football sponsorship space is likely to become very hectic and busy in the 26/27 season. Especially in the Premier League as betting and gambling sponsorships are set to be prohibited in the front-of-shirt space, which leaves 11 teams in the hunt for replacements. Several factors are expected to play importance in the maturity of football sponsorships in the coming period like induction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the sports ecosystem leading to creation of varied digital assets which could lead to a specific sponsorships catering to each geographic regions or increasing influence of Private Equity (PE) investors looking to compound and maximize returns could see more short-term deals and so on.
We have put together some likely to be seen trends:
- Authenticity will rule: In a more informed society especially with the youth segment, typically 15-34yo, the core target audience for almost all brands, it becomes very important to portray the brand as authentic and meaningful with a strong value system. Audiences are quick to judge, and one wrong step can erode brand equity very quickly. Football clubs will be extra careful in selecting the right partner. In a time when information spreads in a second, it becomes all the more important. Case in hand, FC Barcelona withdraws from sponsorship deal with little-known crypto sponsor ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proof), a Samoan registered entity
- Market correction in sponsorship rights values: Multiple factors can be attributed in this case. First and foremost, the increased scrutiny on deal valuations along with stricter financial regulations especially in the case of Premier League with the Independent Financial Regulator takes charge and in parallel, the looming ban on gambling brands in the front-of-shirt case where almost 8 clubs will be seeking new sponsorships in 27/28. A sudden shortage of money-backed brands would lead to a supply shortage scenario creating a scope for value reduction. Further, brands need more in terms of data-backed fan connections and lack of it can lead to value correction.
- Competitive women’s football sponsorship landscape: The continued growth in women’s football across the markets is likely to attract more sponsors, although the value might still be lesser than the men’s football. All the right factors namely, increased private capital investment in women’s game right down to the lower tiers (Bristol City in WSL 2 by Mercury 13), higher attendances, increase in prize money etc., will force sponsors to look at it in a renewed light.
- Focus on quality activation: Cautious consumer spending in 2026 would inadvertently lead to the demand for maximizing ROI and ROO. While the sponsors will be very aggressive in this, it will also be up to the rights holders to support sponsors. This will lead to a greater focus on activations with more stress on the digital space mixed with physical, in-person activations. In other words, hybrid activations will be important.
- Data, data and more data: An increasing number of sponsorship deals will likely to be centered around the quality of fan data available with the rights holders, be it football clubs, leagues or associations. With the demand for higher ROI/ROO from sponsors, it’s quite natural they expect support and quality fan data to activate the sponsorship on and each deal value is likely to be based on the data supplied.
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In Conclusion
With changing times, evolving sports content viewership, increasing AI-based implications in football and rising penetration of PE investments, sponsorships and other commercial revenue streams are the areas most likely to be impacted. 26/27 season may well become the basis of change-curve in football sponsorships.
We will keep a close eye in the space and keep you updated.
