January 14 – Middle Eastern countries have changed the face of football sponsorship over the past 10 years, not by the number of deals that have originated from the region but the amount of money spent.
A report by Repucom highlights the shift at the top end of the sponsorship market towards investment from the Arab countries with brands from the UAE having invested $163 million on shirt sponsorship deals alone during 2014. UAE is the country
Qatar has the highest average spend, reportedly investing on average around $49 million per shirt deal.
Middle Eastern investment hasn’t been limited to sponsorship with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar having paid around $1.5 billion to gain stakes in European football clubs – and invested similar sums again once they have taken control.
Source: Repucom
The report also highlights a shift in value coming from sponsorship categories. Most notably with the emergence of the Middle Eastern airlines and a drop down the ranking of sponsorship categories by value (from fifth to tenth) of gambling
The report states: “In the top six European football leagues over the last ten years, Middle Eastern companies have increased their overall share by
26%. Investment from the Middle East now accounts for 18% of the total sponsorship spend into these leagues.
“As recently as the 2009/10 season, shirt sponsorship by Middle Eastern companies was only worth around $24.6 million. By 2013/14, it was six times greater. Of the top five biggest football sponsoring brands in Europe,
three are now Middle Eastern companies – the Qatar Tourism Authority, Emirates and Etihad.”
The report highlights Qatar as a driving force within the changes within the world football company, highlighted by its 2020 World Cup hosting win, but driven by the entrance into the broadcast rights market of Al Jazeera’s BeIN Sports, the Aspire Zone development and its event hosting capabilities, and the international lead taken by the Aspire Academy in the education and training of players and coaches.
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