These are the latest Australian sponsorship trends based on how deals signed in this market compare to the rest of the world in 2024 so far

Food & Beverage companies have undertaken the most deals in Australia so far in 2024, accounting for 18.2% of all deals.

This is being driven by Alcohol – the most prolific sponsor sub-category, accounting for nearly 10% of deals. Alcohol’s activity was very much driven by the large number of deals signed by the Australian Open at the beginning of the year.

This is followed by Consumer Good manufacturers – driven by Accessories – accounting for 14.7%.

This shows how reliant the Australian market is on just two sectors, who account for one-third of all deals in the market. The challenge is to start targeting and enticing different categories.

To identify what these might be, we analysed how the Aussie market compares to deals signed in the rest of the world. Specifically, which categories it does a ‘better’ job of attracting (we call this ‘over-performing’) and which it does a worse job (‘under-performing’).

Not surprisingly, it does the best job (or ‘over-performs’ the most) compared to the rest of the world in attracting Food & Beverage sponsors. F&B sponsors account for 18.2% of deals in Australia vs. 13.8% in the rest of the world – a difference of 4.4%. 

The Aussie market also noticeably overperforms on attracting Travel & Tourism companies (who account for 9.8% of deals in Australia vs 7.1% in the rest of the world, a difference of 2.6%).

However, Aussie rights holders should look at targeting the other end of the spectrum (i.e. where it under-performs most heavily) for new opportunities for growth by looking to replicate the success the rest of the world has shown is possible.

At a category level, this would be Financial Services (under-performing at -3.8%) – led by the likes of Crypto/Blockchain firms – and Professional Services. At a subcategory level this includes Soft Drinks (despite the F&B category’s overall success), Software and Clothing/Apparel manufacturers.

What sales angle to be using

In addition, looking at Australian sponsorship trends in terms of why sponsors do deals in Australia compared to the rest of the world can help Aussie rights holders identify which sales angles to lead with.

To be seen to be doing good (aka Social Impact) has been the most common publicly-cited reason why sponsors chose to do deals in Australia – accounting for nearly one-quarter of deals. These include promoting physical health or championing gender equality.

As a result, the Aussie market is ‘over-performing’ on Social Impact vs the rest of the world, as it does with getting companies to do deals to engage fans or showcase their product.

In contrast, it ‘under-performs’ – vs deals done outside Australia – when it comes to a local connection or an alignment of values between both parties. So, Aussie rights holders should look to exploit these two angles more to replicate the success the rest of the world has shown is possible.