01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

SHORTSTOP
BRANDS & MARKETING
MARETIN
ADIDAS: Sportswear brand adidas
ended a $3 million sponsorship of
the University of Central Florida’s
athletic department after one of
basketball star Michael Jordan’s
sons played a match for the
university wearing Nike shoes
named after his father.
ETIHAD: An English court ordered
Etihad Airways and real estate
developer Aldar Properties to
pay the Force India F1 team
$5.25 million as the result of a
sponsorship dispute. Etihad and
Aldar had claimed a change of
livery to the Force India car, and
the addition of a kingfisher logo,
when it bought by Indian billionaire
Dr Vijay Mallya in October 2007
constituted a breach of their
sponsorship agreement, and pulled
out. Etihad and Aldar had entered
into a three-year $20 million title
sponsorship deal with the team in
April 2007.
MASTERCARD: MasterCard
became match title sponsor for the
Barbarian rugby internationals for
the 2009-2010 season. The series
of matches will be known as ‘The
MasterCard Trophy
SCRATCH GOLF: US golfer Ryan
Moore, the 2004 US Amateur
champion, signed an unusual
agreement with sponsor Scratch
Golf that will see him take a stake in
the company, with the opportunity
to earn performance bonuses and
additional payments.
ENGLISH LEAGUE: Football club
Newcastle United agreed a stadium
naming rights deal with sportswear
retailer Sports Direct, owned by
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley.
The club plans to rename its home
stadium sportsdirect.com@St James’
Park Stadium under a deal lasting
until the end of the season, prompting
an angry response from fans.
ADIDAS: Andy Murray signed a
new £15 million, five-year deal with
sportswear maker adidas. The
deal begins 2010, ending Murray’s
relationship with Fred Perry.
LV=: LV= will title sponsor rugby
union’s Anglo-Welsh tournament,
the joint competition managed by
the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and
Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
WITHOUT WISHING TO READ too much
into this year’s forecasts for the sponsorship
industry, one can at least take heart from the
statistics that predict year-on-year growth in
global expenditure of between 2-3.1 per cent in
2009 (GroupM/IEG June 2009 respectively) to
circa $44.4 billion.
Against a backdrop of a forecast 5.5 per cent
fall in global advertising spend to $417 billion
and a 3.7 per cent decline in other marketing
services this year, those in the sponsorship
industry should be feeling reasonably confident
that it continues to show positive signs of
progression, even in the most challenging times.
In fact, global sponsorship growth has been
strong over the past two decades, consistently
outpacing growth in advertising and sales
AIG dropped out, but AON will step in - Getty Images Sport
OPTIMISING TOUCH POINTS
Jeremy Clark, Managing Director, MEC Access, Europe Middle East & Africa,
explains that insight is the key to a bright future for sports marketers.
promotion in percentage terms. Sport continues
to dominate the industry in terms of the number
of deals and overall investment by brands.
But a 5 per cent decrease in its total share of
investment between 2007 and 2008 (Source:
TWSM) is statistical evidence, if we needed it,
that some brands are seeking new or alternative
platforms, in entertainment and cause, to
drive differentiation and deeper consumer
engagement, potentially at the expense of sport.
So, on the one hand the industry is in
reasonable health and continuing to buck the
trend. But on the other side sport must react to
the increasing competition by demonstrating its
true worth as one of the most effective platforms
for brands to drive consumer engagement and
deliver a positive return on investment.
16 SportBusiness International • No. 152 • 12.09